Mechanics Bank Trust Department Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 988 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 119 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Valley Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in 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 in the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $655,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total transaction of $859,886.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,238,845.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total transaction of $859,886.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,238,845.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,443 shares of company stock worth $133,105,284. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $660.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ META opened at $589.95 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The business’s 50-day moving average is $538.12 and its 200 day moving average is $505.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.