Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $228,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Keel Point LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $441.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $495.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $403.40. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.88 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

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.