OV Management LLC Buys 597 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

OV Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,633 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.9% of OV Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. OV Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,673.10. This trade represents a 2.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total transaction of $21,695,565.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 583,505 shares of company stock valued at $385,495,911. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $576.36 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $654.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $610.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

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.