Westpac Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,693 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,460 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.6% of Westpac Banking Corp's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $38,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total transaction of $342,322.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,507,676.90. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 585,034 shares of company stock worth $386,363,811. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $790.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.55.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Meta Platforms stock traded down $52.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $531.62. 34,640,728 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,380,193. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $651.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $609.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.
Meta Platforms Profile
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Free Report)
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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