Cladis Investment Advisory LLC Sells 202 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cladis Investment Advisory LLC decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 202 shares during the period. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of META opened at $597.14 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $570.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $603.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total transaction of $14,194,198.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.00, for a total transaction of $359,936.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 3,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,480. This represents a 16.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 210,357 shares of company stock valued at $148,449,468 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Roth Capital increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $696.45.

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.