Ledyard National Bank Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ledyard National Bank trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,411 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 52 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,276,482 shares of company stock worth $620,451,095. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $2.91 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $435.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,055,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,295,426. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $493.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $406.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $229.85 and a twelve month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s dividend 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.