West Coast Financial LLC Has $5.08 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

by · The Markets Daily

West Coast Financial LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 10,408 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 103,019 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $30,927,000 after buying an additional 1,740 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $713,000. Finally, Pictet North America Advisors SA increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 21,409 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,427,000 after buying an additional 3,341 shares during the period. 62.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.78, for a total transaction of $212,242.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,662,814.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.78, for a total transaction of $212,242.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,662,814.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,064 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.51, for a total transaction of $374,006.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 784,236 shares of company stock valued at $265,206,391 in the last ninety days. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $355.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $402.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, forty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.23.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ META traded up $7.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $383.45. 21,670,806 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,618,938. The company’s 50-day moving average is $345.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $319.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $134.61 and a one year high of $384.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 2.57. The company has a market capitalization of $985.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The social networking company reported $4.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 26.40% and a net margin of 23.42%. The business had revenue of $34.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 14.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Profile

(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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