Arvest Bank Trust Division Reduces Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Arvest Bank Trust Division decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 29,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,007 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Arvest Bank Trust Division’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Arvest Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Bayban increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the 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 directly owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,393 shares of company stock valued at $22,141,163. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $595.19 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $604.51 and a 200 day moving average of $625.53. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on META. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $671.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.