Arvest Bank Trust Division Acquires 9,234 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Arvest Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 42.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,884 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,234 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of Arvest Bank Trust Division’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Arvest Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $317,162.16. Following the sale, the director owned 3,943 shares in the company, valued at $2,481,290.47. The trade was a 11.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,860 shares of company stock valued at $26,555,260. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of META stock opened at $627.57 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $618.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $636.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched a new Meta Business Agent for WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, targeting enterprise customers and giving investors a potential new revenue stream beyond advertising. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Meta won a partial legal victory in Europe over the EU’s treatment of Marketplace under tech rules, easing one regulatory overhang. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive overall, with at least one recent upgrade to strong-buy and multiple bullish price targets tied to Meta’s commerce and AI initiatives. Finviz reference

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.