Wedbush Securities Inc. Trims Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wedbush Securities Inc. cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,126 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 818 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.0% of Wedbush Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $27,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,376,154 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,391,262,000 after acquiring an additional 161,789 shares in the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 64,956 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $38,032,000 after purchasing an additional 5,643 shares in the last quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $7,308,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 347.9% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 3,310 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,938,000 after buying an additional 2,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Capital Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $76,877,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 5.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $504.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $648.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $609.75. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 549,113 shares of company stock valued at $364,668,246 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on META shares. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.55.

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.