PBMares Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

PBMares Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 64.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 596 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,091 shares during the period. PBMares Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,507,676.90. The trade was a 8.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. This trade represents a 2.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 124,831 shares of company stock worth $83,868,872 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $7.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $733.63. The stock had a trading volume of 18,758,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,525,798. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm's 50 day moving average is $633.87 and its 200-day moving average is $625.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $812.00 price objective (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $719.52.

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.