WestEnd Advisors LLC Sells 1,440 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WestEnd Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,322 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,440 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $4.74 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $489.12. The stock had a trading volume of 9,126,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,803,041. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $464.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $375.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $202.54 and a 12 month high of $523.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.84, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 19.94 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.55, for a total transaction of $198,977.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,001,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.55, for a total transaction of $198,977.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,001,725.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $958,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,053 shares in the company, valued at $4,757,883.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,504,435 shares of company stock valued at $703,629,367 over the last three months. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.35.

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.