Cheviot Value Management LLC Sells 363 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cheviot Value Management LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,716 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 363 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 4.3% of Cheviot Value Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Cheviot Value Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total value of $259,194.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,954,832.58. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total transaction of $453,012.27. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock worth $214,968,924. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Mizuho boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $676.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ META opened at $533.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $590.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $604.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.