Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Unloaded Rep. Bruce Westerman

Representative Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas) recently sold shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META). In a filing disclosed on May 12th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Meta Platforms stock on April 21st. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “FISHER IRA” account.

Representative Bruce Westerman also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of UniCredit (OTCMKTS:UNCRY) on 4/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) on 4/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (OTCMKTS:SIEGY) on 4/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of GSK (NYSE:GSK) on 4/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) on 4/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) on 4/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) on 4/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) on 4/21/2025.
• Sold $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) on 4/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Chevron (NYSE:CVX) on 4/21/2025.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of META opened at $656.03 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $569.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $605.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $696.45.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,324 shares of company stock worth $68,637,452. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Representative Westerman

Bruce Westerman (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2015. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Westerman (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

Westerman earned his BSBAGE in biological and agricultural engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1990 and his MF in forestry from Yale University in 2001. His professional experience includes working as a plant engineer for Riceland Foods and an engineer/forester for Mid-South Engineering Company.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.