Sax Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 96 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sax Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,074 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $11,285,855,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after purchasing an additional 4,908,251 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ META traded up $10.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $463.48. 4,717,322 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,127,890. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.38 and a 52-week high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $493.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $473.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $525.66.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total transaction of $443,269.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,206,674. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 311,348 shares of company stock worth $154,678,120. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.