Western Financial Corp CA Has $4.61 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Western Financial Corp CA increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,990 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.7% of Western Financial Corp CA's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Western Financial Corp CA's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $733.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $638.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $626.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,230 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,676.90. This trade represents a 8.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total transaction of $500,462.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,340 shares in the company, valued at $15,943,062.60. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 124,831 shares of company stock valued at $83,868,872. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $803.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.52.

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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