Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Reduced by Whalen Wealth Management Inc.

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,588 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,060 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.8% of Whalen Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Whalen Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $664.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $712.69.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $712.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $625.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $624.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $3,334,383.52. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $700.38, for a total value of $350,190.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,119 shares in the company, valued at $59,615,645.22. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,002 shares of company stock worth $73,353,340 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.