Thomasville National Bank Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Thomasville National Bank decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 39,297 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.7% of Thomasville National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $12.58 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $603.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,091,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,122,902. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $358.61 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $593.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $553.55.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $647.98.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,531.12. The trade was a 3.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 411,357 shares of company stock worth $249,545,428 in the last 90 days. 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.