Western Financial Corp CA Sells 147 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Western Financial Corp CA reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,480 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 147 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.4% of Western Financial Corp CA’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $704.87 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $621.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $571.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $718.14.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $710.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 700,241 shares of company stock worth $434,752,368 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.