Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Acquires 5,999 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 29.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 5,999 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 25,283 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,949,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479 shares in the last quarter. Elite Life Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Monument Capital Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $249,000. Finally, Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $249,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $2.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $526.73. 7,738,072 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,271,585. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $501.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $489.45. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $276.03 and a 1-year high of $542.81. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.09, for a total value of $8,836,861.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,019 shares in the company, valued at $29,110,002.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.09, for a total transaction of $8,836,861.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,110,002.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,053,185.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 384,783 shares of company stock valued at $194,001,589. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $574.41.

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.