Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Lessened by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,672 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,886 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.6% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Hudson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 426 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 139,346 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $81,589,000 after buying an additional 7,264 shares during the last quarter. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC now owns 537 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC now owns 3,586 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,100,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $11.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $647.49. The stock had a trading volume of 19,039,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,840,293. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $601.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $560.51. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $385.66 and a 1 year high of $652.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

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.