Truist Financial Corp Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Truist Financial Corp cut its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 866,802 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 154,481 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $306,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eos Management L.P. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 301.8% during the 4th quarter. Eos Management L.P. now owns 16,222 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,742,000 after purchasing an additional 12,185 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 11,073 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,919,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $434,000. Callan Capital LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 2,711 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,838 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $443.29. The company had a trading volume of 32,645,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,391,986. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $494.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $404.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $229.85 and a 1-year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Meta Platforms 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.