Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Boosted by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 134.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,189 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,427 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 5.6% of Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total value of $252,797.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,467,522.10. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 549,113 shares of company stock worth $364,668,246 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of META opened at $504.73 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company’s fifty day moving average is $648.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $610.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

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.