Heartland Bank & Trust Co Acquires 75 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.9% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. S.A. Mason LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the second quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $593.28.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $509.10, for a total value of $8,502,988.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 186,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,113,116.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 324,751 shares of company stock worth $170,575,643. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $572.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $517.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $500.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $577.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.