Cladis Investment Advisory LLC Sells 202 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cladis Investment Advisory LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $597.14 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $570.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $603.99. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.00, for a total transaction of $359,936.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,888,480. This represents a 16.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 210,357 shares of company stock valued at $148,449,468 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.