Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 50,078 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 19,497 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.0% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,285,855,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,752,900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,251 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $504.16. 10,004,487 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,688,467. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $271.42 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $480.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $440.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.89, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,268,235.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $452,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,280,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 437,528 shares of company stock valued at $215,768,262 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.41.

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.