New Century Financial Group LLC Sells 433 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

New Century Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,758 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 433 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.8% of New Century Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $572.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $577.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $517.89 and a 200 day moving average of $500.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $509.10, for a total transaction of $8,502,988.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 186,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,113,116.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 324,751 shares of company stock worth $170,575,643. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.28.

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.