Community Trust & Investment Co. Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Community Trust & Investment Co. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 104,653 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,594,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $66,000. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.92% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of META traded down $9.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $195.61. The stock had a trading volume of 50,141,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,964,027. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.09 and a 12 month high of $236.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $507.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.88. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 21.23% and a net margin of 19.90%. The business had revenue of $32.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $170.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. OTR Global lowered shares of Meta Platforms to a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $228.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $205.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.70, for a total transaction of $39,911.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,052,988.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 10,888 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.48, for a total value of $1,954,178.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 12,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,287,113.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.70, for a total value of $39,911.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,052,988.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 68,342 shares of company stock valued at $12,285,012 in the last ninety days. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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Meta Platforms, Inc, engages in the development of social media applications. It builds technology that helps people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. It operates through the Family of Apps (FoA) and Reality Labs (RL) segments. The FoA segment consists of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other services.