Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC Sells 61 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,147 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after buying an additional 748,076 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Lincoln National Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,894,000 after buying an additional 2,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $567.16 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $308.33 and a 52 week high of $602.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $555.99 and a 200 day moving average of $513.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,890,460.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,890,460.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 251,092 shares of company stock valued at $132,865,496. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

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.