Aspen Investment Management Inc Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Aspen Investment Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,523 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the quarter. Aspen Investment Management Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $686.28, for a total value of $417,258.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 9,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,361,815.60. This represents a 6.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $538,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,535 shares in the company, valued at $21,738,325. This represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 813,951 shares of company stock worth $526,565,232 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $658.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $651.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $595.06. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. 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. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

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.