PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,250,348 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 35,117 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $715,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $116,708,000. Vance Wealth Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. now owns 3,414 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,966 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 66,783 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $38,229,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, First City Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,527 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $563.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $572.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $523.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.36, for a total value of $4,117,971.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 531,884 shares in the company, valued at $274,643,622.24. The trade was a 1.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 168,843 shares of company stock valued at $92,083,554 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Profile

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.