Grove Bank & Trust Purchases 431 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,357 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $616.46 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $381.16 and a 12 month high of $638.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $598.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $558.31. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $651.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 3.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 531,190 shares of company stock valued at $322,938,501. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.