Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,891 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 939 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.0% of Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vantage Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 66.4% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rollins Financial boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Rollins Financial now owns 30,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $567.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $577.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $516.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $499.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total transaction of $453,015.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total transaction of $453,015.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $509.10, for a total value of $8,502,988.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 186,826 shares in the company, valued at $95,113,116.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 342,358 shares of company stock worth $179,431,101. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Barclays upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.23.

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.