WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. Takes $248,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 700 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $499,020,000 after buying an additional 249,926 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 284.0% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 2,482 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.9% in the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $17.28 during trading on Thursday, hitting $511.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,233,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,931,227. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $493.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $396.70. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 13.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on META. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.53.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total transaction of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 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 transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,440,278 shares of company stock valued at $684,796,490 in the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.