Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Citizens National Bank Trust Department

Citizens National Bank Trust Department grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 20.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,190 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Citizens National Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $676.00 to $807.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $812.00 price objective (up previously from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total transaction of $383,081.49. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,818,837.41. This represents a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $704.89, for a total value of $365,837.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 28,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,839,129.05. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 153,766 shares of company stock valued at $105,135,650 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $713.57 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. The company has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $651.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $628.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

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.