Cavalier Investments LLC Acquires 48 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cavalier Investments LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Cavalier Investments LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $788,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,946 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $621.84, for a total value of $14,268,740.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 796,712 shares of company stock valued at $517,503,564. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $655.05 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $654.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $597.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on META. Citigroup lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

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.