Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Cut by Western Financial Corp CA

Western Financial Corp CA trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,716 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 28 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.6% of Western Financial Corp CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $527.34 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $480.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $385.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $207.13 and a fifty-two week high of $530.70.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $385.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $499.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $513.32, for a total transaction of $251,526.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,148,086.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,495,983 shares of company stock valued at $705,134,392. Corporate insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

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.