Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 19,834 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 17.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,271 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 19,834 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.0% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $53,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after buying an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $671.00, for a total transaction of $348,249.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,930,042. This represents a 1.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,563 shares of company stock valued at $34,793,185 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $697.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $587.67 and a 200-day moving average of $615.55. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $702.48.

Meta Platforms 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.

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