Centaurus Financial Inc. Has $11.72 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 75.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,972 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.8% of Centaurus Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $572.81 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $583.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $521.88 and a 200-day moving average of $501.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total transaction of $235,410.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,359 shares in the company, valued at $7,044,630. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total transaction of $235,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,359 shares in the company, valued at $7,044,630. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 308,462 shares of company stock worth $162,308,065 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on META. Citigroup boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $598.08.

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.