Paragon Financial Partners Inc. Sells 45 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Paragon Financial Partners Inc. lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,584 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.6% of Paragon Financial Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Paragon Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 568,016 shares of company stock worth $346,031,180. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $647.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $601.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $560.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $385.66 and a fifty-two week high of $652.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.

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.