Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Sells 20 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $235,872,000 after acquiring an additional 5,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $412,606,000 after acquiring an additional 91,773 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $617.12 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $358.61 and a 1 year high of $638.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $595.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $554.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business 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 was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 495,682 shares of company stock worth $301,101,199. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.05.

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.