Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Increased by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 255.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,229,350 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.3% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $1,001,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,211,967,000 after buying an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 308,068 shares of company stock valued at $214,968,924 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $676.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $533.15 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $590.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $604.75. The company has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business posted $5.33 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.