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

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 112,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,475 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.2% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $65,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $612.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $370.95 and a 12-month high of $638.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $596.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $556.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total transaction of $520,103.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,612,808.90. This represents a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 496,174 shares of company stock valued at $301,408,499 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $650.05.

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.