Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,858 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 26 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.9% of Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.1% during the second quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 25.0% during the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 120 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $2,179,000. Hoge Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.6% during the second quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period. Finally, Williams Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $6,650,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $536.32 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $544.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $505.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $496.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total transaction of $1,029,156.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,765,650. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total value of $1,029,156.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,765,650. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 357,987 shares of company stock worth $185,802,769. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.