CAP Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

CAP Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,440 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the period. CAP Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. New Republic Capital LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,135 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $1,085,000. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $2,990,000. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 1,220 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $736.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $641.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $585.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total value of $14,194,198.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 751,033 shares of company stock valued at $480,911,671 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Company 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.