First Financial Bankshares Inc Purchases Shares of 101,666 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 101,666 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,986,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7 %

META stock traded up $3.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $506.03. 5,805,640 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,815,744. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $480.74 and its 200 day moving average is $438.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $265.33 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 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 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, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.98, for a total value of $203,107.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,162,230.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.50, for a total value of $285,772.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,614,740.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.98, for a total value of $203,107.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,162,230.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 575,235 shares of company stock valued at $283,074,260. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.