Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC Has $1.79 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,061 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total value of $252,797.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares in the company, valued at $10,467,522.10. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 549,113 shares of company stock valued at $364,668,246 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 9.0 %

Shares of META stock opened at $531.62 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $651.00 and its 200 day moving average is $609.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.55.

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.