Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC Lowers Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Parkway Wealth Management Group sharply cut its Meta stake in the first quarter, selling 3,179 shares and reducing holdings by 87.8% to just 442 shares valued at about $278,000.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $10.44 versus $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion, with sales rising 33.1% year over year.
• Despite some insider selling and a recent pullback in the stock price, Wall Street remains generally bullish: Meta has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $840.60.

Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 87.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 442 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,179 shares during the period. Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aegis Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $204,000. Dagco Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Dagco Inc. now owns 1,326 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. First American Bank boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. First American Bank now owns 44,809 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $25,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 370 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.1% during the first quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 9,598 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,491,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $562.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $609.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $629.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $317,162.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. This trade represents a 11.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock valued at $24,115,999 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is being highlighted as a market outperformer, with coverage noting it has exceeded broader market returns, reinforcing the view that investors still see strong fundamentals behind the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and EssilorLuxottica launched a cheaper new line of AI smart glasses starting at $299, which could expand adoption of its wearables strategy and support long-term growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” suggesting Wall Street still sees upside potential despite recent volatility. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple pieces point to Meta being a preferred growth stock for long-term investors, including commentary citing billionaire Dan Loeb’s bullish stance. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing Meta with Snap underscores Meta’s much larger revenue base and more consistent growth, but this is more of a fundamentals refresher than a new catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Google is limiting Meta’s use of Gemini AI models raise a potential constraint on Meta’s access to outside AI compute capacity, which could be a modest headwind for its AI development plans. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.60.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

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