Bright Rock Capital Management LLC Sells 6,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bright Rock Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.6% of Bright Rock Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Madison Wealth Partners Inc boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the first quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,379 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the first quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC now owns 8,549 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,151,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 670 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 4,895 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.82, for a total value of $39,079,125.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.82, for a total value of $39,079,125.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 313,169 shares of company stock worth $153,344,736. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $6.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $494.78. 23,130,732 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,120,400. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $478.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $448.41.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.