Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 4,475 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,105 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,475 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.2% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $65,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $1.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $612.77. 17,239,131 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,812,479. The company has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $370.95 and a 1 year high of $638.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $596.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $557.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. The trade was a 3.71 % 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, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total value of $520,103.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,387 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,612,808.90. This represents a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 496,174 shares of company stock valued at $301,408,499 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $650.05.

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.