Trust Co of the South Sells 122 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Trust Co of the South reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lindenwold Advisors INC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the third quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,172,468.33. This trade represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 326,211 shares of company stock valued at $197,633,759 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ META traded up $9.46 on Thursday, hitting $594.97. 7,798,901 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,682,313. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $343.17 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $588.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $547.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.02, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $640.20.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.