Cadinha & Co. LLC Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cadinha & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 11,361 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $6,548,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.4% of Cadinha & Co. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.6%

META stock traded up $23.41 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $670.90. 15,706,506 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,487,365. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $579.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $612.10. The company has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on META. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $701.05.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total value of $329,777.79. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,202,725.61. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,056 shares of company stock valued at $35,074,903 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.