Cairn Investment Group Inc. Decreases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cairn Investment Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,894 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.7% of Cairn Investment Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Cairn Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total transaction of $9,035,660.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $146,918,094.69. This trade represents a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 673,878 shares of company stock valued at $416,269,904 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $697.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. 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 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $710.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $616.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $568.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

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.