SP Asset Management LLC Has $245.71 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

SP Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. SP Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $245,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Presidio Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. now owns 741 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $605.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $657.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $601.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 18,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,546,130.40. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 725,081 shares of company stock worth $472,702,625. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.