Bank of Stockton Has $2.66 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bank of Stockton raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,541 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.8% of Bank of Stockton’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $668.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $653.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $596.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total transaction of $238,503.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,068,173.34. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $538,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,738,325. This represents a 2.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 813,951 shares of company stock worth $526,565,232 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

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.