Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s 7th Largest Position

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 911,723 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,151 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.4% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $521,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 23.9% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 28,800 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,486,000 after purchasing an additional 5,556 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 1,550 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $887,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.1% in the third quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.1% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 9,088 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the third quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 49,657 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.36, for a total value of $4,117,971.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 531,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $274,643,622.24. This represents a 1.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,218 shares of company stock worth $65,819,414 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $565.11 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $573.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $525.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.