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

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,271 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 19,834 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.0% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $53,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 26,312 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,406,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,563 shares of company stock worth $34,793,185. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $697.71 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $587.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $615.55.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on META. Raymond James cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Pivotal Research cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.