WESPAC Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WESPAC Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 132.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,981 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.9% of WESPAC Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $61,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $668.20 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $653.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $596.59. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total value of $238,503.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,068,173.34. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 813,951 shares of company stock valued at $526,565,232 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

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.