Ledyard National Bank Purchases 123 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ledyard National Bank lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,507 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 123 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 32.5% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $261,680,000 after buying an additional 112,047 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3,352.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 116,580 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $66,735,000 after acquiring an additional 113,203 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 21.7% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 4,926 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,820,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,651 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M. Kraus & Co bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $2,918,698.12. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 8,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,943,375.40. The trade was a 37.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 756,735 shares of company stock worth $475,285,232. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $719.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $725.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $631.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $578.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

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.