Trust Co. of Vermont Buys 316 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,941 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.6% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $33,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $612.77 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $596.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $557.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. 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 $370.95 and a twelve month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total value of $520,103.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,612,808.90. This represents a 2.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. The trade was a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 496,174 shares of company stock valued at $301,408,499 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.05.

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.