MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,589 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.8% of MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after purchasing an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,754,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,911,029,000 after acquiring an additional 208,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,565,134 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,758,146,000 after purchasing an additional 289,207 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $613.57 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $580.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $534.10. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $319.99 and a 1-year high of $629.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $652,767.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $709,329.64. This trade represents a 47.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 164,201 shares of company stock valued at $95,420,559. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.