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

Aua Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,720 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 528 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,318,046 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,471,822,000 after purchasing an additional 550,852 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,918,698.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 8,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,943,375.40. This trade represents a 37.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 756,735 shares of company stock valued at $475,285,232. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of META traded up $2.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $719.80. The company had a trading volume of 12,979,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,791,308. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $725.01. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $631.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $578.74. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms 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.