STAR Financial Bank Purchases Shares of 1,426 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

STAR Financial Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,426 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,011,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $11,285,855,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,906,009,000 after acquiring an additional 946,871 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $9.51 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $486.50. 6,005,811 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,001,648. The business’s 50 day moving average is $480.18 and its 200-day moving average is $433.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $258.88 and a 1-year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.41.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.75, for a total transaction of $288,843.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 40,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,114,387.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 635,968 shares of company stock worth $313,346,759 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.