Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Decreased by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 77,294 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 378 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.5% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $44,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Pivotal Research reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $704.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $0.78 during trading on Thursday, hitting $693.36. The company had a trading volume of 7,303,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,493,695. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $597.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $617.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,269,825.75. This represents a 2.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 85,682 shares of company stock worth $56,014,018. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.