Western Financial Corp CA Has $4.37 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Western Financial Corp CA boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,627 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.5% of Western Financial Corp CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after buying an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,582,876,000 after acquiring an additional 342,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of META stock opened at $582.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $547.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $509.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on META. Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $619.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,324 shares of company stock valued at $132,218,368 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.