Norway Savings Bank Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Norway Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,826 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.2% of Norway Savings Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.0 %

META stock traded down $12.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $617.76. 9,077,158 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,873,400. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $590.92 and a 200-day moving average of $550.47. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $352.05 and a 52-week high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total value of $241,534.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,744,844.39. This trade represents a 3.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 361,640 shares of company stock valued at $219,037,690 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.