Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group Buys 2,321 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 58.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,315 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.8% of Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Edge Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 730 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 736 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,440,278 shares of company stock worth $684,796,490 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded up $10.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $504.99. The company had a trading volume of 11,266,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,001,045. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $207.13 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $493.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $396.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

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.