Centaurus Financial Inc. Purchases 5,556 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,800 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,556 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.0% of Centaurus Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after purchasing an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,754,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,911,029,000 after buying an additional 208,677 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,504,600 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,723,493,000 after acquiring an additional 17,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $565.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $573.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $525.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $2,918,698.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 8,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,943,375.40. The trade was a 37.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,218 shares of company stock worth $65,819,414 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

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.