Sandy Cove Advisors LLC Purchases 499 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sandy Cove Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,814 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.7% of Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $499,020,000 after purchasing an additional 249,926 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 284.0% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $513.32, for a total transaction of $251,526.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,148,086.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $513.32, for a total transaction of $251,526.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,148,086.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,442,145 shares of company stock valued at $665,553,088 in the last three months. Company insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $7.13 on Tuesday, hitting $495.89. The stock had a trading volume of 11,179,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,088,033. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.90 and a 1 year high of $523.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $459.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $373.07.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.00 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.