Iowa State Bank Has $9.75 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Iowa State Bank reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,658 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.0% of Iowa State Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,089 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.8% during the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,210 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 28.2% during the second quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 4,719 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 22,919 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $11,556,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, Certus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $222,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $16.28 on Monday, reaching $620.91. 7,568,029 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,500,438. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $352.05 and a twelve month high of $638.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $589.88 and a 200-day moving average of $549.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.25, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total value of $241,534.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,533 shares in the company, valued at $6,744,844.39. The trade was a 3.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 326,624 shares of company stock valued at $197,875,975 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.