Oakworth Capital Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 27.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 467 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. 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 1,440,278 shares of company stock worth $684,796,490. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.15.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $494.17 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $493.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $396.70. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $207.13 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.17, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

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.