Cedrus LLC Acquires 394 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cedrus LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 56.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,090 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Cedrus LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lane & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $200,000. First PREMIER Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.6% during the first quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 5,332 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 456.7% during the first quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. now owns 6,780 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after acquiring an additional 5,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 413.4% in the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 3,840 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,865,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $575.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $547.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $509.22. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. Pivotal Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $617.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $190,756.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,817. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at $311,493,681. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $190,756.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,817. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 249,911 shares of company stock valued at $131,978,559. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.