Western Financial Corp CA Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Western Financial Corp CA decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 53.3%, owning 3,733 shares after selling 4,257 shares during the second quarter.
• Several analysts have increased their price targets for Meta Platforms, with Piper Sandler raising it from $808.00 to $880.00, indicating strong investor optimism.
• Meta Platforms announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525, representing an annualized yield of 0.3% and reflecting a payout ratio of 7.60%.

Western Financial Corp CA reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 53.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,733 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,257 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.5% of Western Financial Corp CA's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Western Financial Corp CA's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $830.02.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total value of $352,223.55. Following the sale, the director owned 8,412 shares in the company, valued at $6,371,837.64. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $741.50, for a total transaction of $384,838.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 29,832 shares in the company, valued at $22,120,428. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,955,168 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ META opened at $727.05 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $753.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $673.93. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

About Meta Platforms

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.

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