Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,458 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 53 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.9% of Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,318,548.24. The trade was a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. This represents a 2.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 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 given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $602.58 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $655.95 and its 200 day moving average is $607.98. The company has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.