Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Raised by Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,384 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 126 shares during the quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $658.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $651.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $595.06. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

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 in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.75, for a total value of $613,155.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,212,039.50. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 813,951 shares of company stock valued at $526,565,232 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.