Truist Financial Corp Sells 154,481 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Truist Financial Corp lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,752,900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,251 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 55.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,632,631 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,591,602,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093,715 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1,457.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,156,360 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,117,225,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $834,315,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 65,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.50, for a total transaction of $26,272,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $1.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $443.29. 32,645,619 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,391,986. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $229.85 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $494.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $404.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price objective (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

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.