Peoples Bank KS Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Peoples Bank KS trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,902 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of Peoples Bank KS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Peoples Bank KS’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1,457.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,156,360 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,117,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,953,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $572.51.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $1.82 on Monday, hitting $515.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,758,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,443,930. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $497.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $484.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $535,549.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,130,103.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 319,158 shares of company stock worth $158,629,849. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.