Westwood Wealth Management Sells 7,580 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Westwood Wealth Management reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,214 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 7,580 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 7.3% of Westwood Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Westwood Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second 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. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $13.35 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $606.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,007,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,703,542. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $640.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $699.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,476,894.45. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 39,535 shares of company stock valued at $24,382,453 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $880.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 19th. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $822.96.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.