Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Westwood Wealth Management

Westwood Wealth Management lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,740 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 6.7% of Westwood Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Westwood Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total transaction of $8,023,999.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 420,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,869,360.30. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock, 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 a total of 549,113 shares of company stock valued at $364,668,246 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 5.1 %

META stock opened at $504.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $648.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $610.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.