First Financial Corp IN Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

First Financial Corp IN trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,278 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 82 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of First Financial Corp IN’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 35.1% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after buying an additional 7,089 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 93,311 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $47,049,000 after acquiring an additional 4,958 shares during the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 241,610 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $121,825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.6% in the second quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 8,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,244,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 21.9% in the second quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,025 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on META shares. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $608.33 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $594.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $554.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $358.61 and a 1-year high of $638.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,456,828. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 423,427 shares of company stock valued at $256,996,450. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.