Equitable Trust Co. Acquires 1,275 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,504 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GraniteShares Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the second quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 7,126 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,593,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 69,139 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,862,000 after purchasing an additional 11,632 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1,700.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 5,400 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,723,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $574.41.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 4,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.17, for a total value of $2,548,605.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,000 shares in the company, valued at $269,449,230. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 4,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.17, for a total value of $2,548,605.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,000 shares in the company, valued at $269,449,230. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 390,072 shares of company stock worth $201,913,948. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $512.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $505.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $493.77. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.3 EPS for the current year.

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.