FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Has $1.47 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,036 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 465 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 13,847 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares during the period. KADENSA CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,548,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,084,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $325,717,000 after purchasing an additional 509,000 shares during the period. Jackson Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, JT Stratford LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 12,876 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,866,000 after acquiring an additional 2,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 218,086 shares of company stock valued at $106,423,370 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $509.50 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $480.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $458.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.27.

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.