Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC

WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 194.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,990 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,011,920,000 after buying an additional 1,733,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $4,223,148,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,906,009,000 after buying an additional 946,871 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on META. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $405.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $500.88.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.58, for a total value of $211,446.28. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,393,590.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $958,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,757,883.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.58, for a total transaction of $211,446.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,852 shares in the company, valued at $13,393,590.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,495,417 shares of company stock worth $704,932,669 in the last three months. Insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $519.25 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $483.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $387.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

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.