Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Sells 3,004 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,268 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,004 shares during the quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $11,285,855,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,251 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 294,278 shares of company stock valued at $146,060,559. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.7 %

META stock opened at $498.87 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $492.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $466.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.