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

First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,770 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 574 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.7% of First National Bank of Hutchinson’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. First National Bank of Hutchinson’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $596.25 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $655.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $605.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.47, for a total transaction of $545,235.35. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,820 shares in the company, valued at $20,375,535.40. This trade represents a 2.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 622,844 shares of company stock worth $409,212,161 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.