Wesbanco Bank Inc. Has $45.48 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,672 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,886 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.6% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 926.6% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $369,774,000 after purchasing an additional 661,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $647.49 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $601.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $560.33. The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $385.66 and a 52-week high of $652.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $654.20.

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.