Webster Bank N. A. Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,113 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 471 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,900 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.0 %

META stock traded down $15.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $504.22. The stock had a trading volume of 15,855,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,400,792. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $480.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.38 and a 1-year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.75, for a total transaction of $238,507.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,166,093.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.75, for a total value of $238,507.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,166,093.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 233,512 shares of company stock worth $113,597,536. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.