Parisi Gray Wealth Management Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Parisi Gray Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,950 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.9% of Parisi Gray Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Parisi Gray Wealth Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 53.6% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,682 shares of company stock valued at $56,014,018 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on META. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $704.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of META traded up $0.01 on Thursday, reaching $694.15. The stock had a trading volume of 4,751,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,484,180. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $597.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $617.62.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm 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 is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

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.