New Century Financial Group LLC Sells 2,700 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

New Century Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 75.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 890 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,700 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $682.87 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $604.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $619.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total transaction of $5,476,691.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,550,434.92. This trade represents a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $676.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $704.26.

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.