Webster Bank N. A. Decreases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Webster Bank N. A. cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,322 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 421 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of Webster Bank N. A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price objective on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.71.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.42, for a total value of $453,785.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,035 shares in the company, valued at $18,068,669.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $190,756.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,817. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.42, for a total transaction of $453,785.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,068,669.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,443 shares of company stock valued at $133,105,284. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $6.12 on Friday, hitting $589.95. The company had a trading volume of 8,587,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,361,877. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $538.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $505.59.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Meta Platforms 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.