Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by West Wealth Group LLC

West Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 599 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. West Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total value of $214,849.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,684,057.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.48, for a total value of $214,849.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,684,057.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 250,817 shares of company stock worth $132,547,715. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $573.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $551.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $510.65. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $621.63.

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.