Novare Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Novare Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,953 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. Novare Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total transaction of $259,194.67. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,954,832.58. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 661,312 shares of company stock worth $407,377,422 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded up $12.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $689.42. The stock had a trading volume of 20,861,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,245,674. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $387.10 and a 52 week high of $710.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $608.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $563.58.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Barclays lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $698.98.

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.