First National Bank of Hutchinson Buys 574 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,770 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.7% of First National Bank of Hutchinson’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. First National Bank of Hutchinson’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VeraBank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $596.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $655.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $605.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total transaction of $243,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,576,930. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 622,844 shares of company stock valued at $409,212,161. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.31.

About Meta Platforms

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.