Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC

Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,664 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,385 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.5% of Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total transaction of $593,124.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,860,580. This trade represents a 2.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,056 shares of company stock worth $35,074,903 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $23.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $670.90. 15,706,506 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,486,996. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $578.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $611.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.