Spahn Wealth & Retirement LLC Takes $5.75 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Spahn Wealth & Retirement LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 9,814 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $5,746,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.8% of Spahn Wealth & Retirement LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 9.0 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $52.31 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $531.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,640,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,380,193. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $651.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $609.95. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $770.00 price target (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given 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 MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total value of $252,797.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares in the company, valued at $10,467,522.10. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,268,742.26. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 585,034 shares of company stock valued at $386,363,811. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.