Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is SP Asset Management LLC’s Largest Position

SP Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 419,654 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 34,145 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 20.6% of SP Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. SP Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $245,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the period. Presidio Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.5% in the third quarter. Presidio Capital Management LLC now owns 661 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 86,644 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,721 shares during the period. Finally, Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the third quarter. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. now owns 741 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.56, for a total transaction of $260,008.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 18,340 shares in the company, valued at $11,546,130.40. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 725,081 shares of company stock worth $472,702,625 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $605.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company’s fifty day moving average is $657.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $601.96. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

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.