Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Boosted by WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC

WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 43.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,858 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at $35,190,573. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 218,086 shares of company stock worth $106,423,370. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.27.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $509.50 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.38 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $480.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $458.05.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.