Aua Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Aua Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,720 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 528 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.1% of Aua Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Aua Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spirit of America Management Corp NY grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $3,390,000. Stratos Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 21,271 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,870 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $1,620,000. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $714.52 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $725.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $627.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $575.09.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total transaction of $635,527.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,390 shares in the company, valued at $19,936,593.60. This represents a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 701,146 shares of company stock worth $435,387,895. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.