Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by UMB Bank n.a.

UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of UMB Bank n.a.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $82,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1 %

META opened at $623.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $382.08 and a 12 month high of $638.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $598.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $558.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,531.12. This represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 567,111 shares of company stock worth $345,453,784 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $700.00 price target (up previously from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $652.98.

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.