West Coast Financial LLC Has $8.48 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

West Coast Financial LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,821 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 149 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.0% of West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Northern Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LongView Wealth Management raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $5.65 on Wednesday, reaching $532.38. The stock had a trading volume of 6,587,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,212,715. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $501.40 and a 200 day moving average of $489.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.72, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $276.03 and a twelve month high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 41,437 shares in the company, valued at $22,053,185.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.21, for a total value of $481,650.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,053,185.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 384,783 shares of company stock valued at $194,001,589. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $574.41.

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.