Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Has $1.94 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,381 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Visionary Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 9,846 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,485,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $1,895,000. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 94,051 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,290,000 after purchasing an additional 10,495 shares during the period. Northwest Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Investment Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $288,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 14,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.38, for a total transaction of $7,487,274.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 135,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,178,793.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 14,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.38, for a total value of $7,487,274.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 135,442 shares in the company, valued at $68,178,793.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 266,332 shares of company stock worth $139,981,833 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $592.89 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $532.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $503.76. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $602.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.05, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on META shares. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $601.08.

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.