Western Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Western Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 82.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 16,093 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,211,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $636.57 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $573.91 and a 200 day moving average of $608.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $701.05.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.50, for a total value of $329,824.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,535,270. The trade was a 1.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $686.28, for a total transaction of $417,258.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,361,815.60. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 77,157 shares of company stock valued at $49,411,000 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.