Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Has $9.69 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,551 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,790 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.8% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $27,470,870,000 after buying an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $19,949,512,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $8,344,552,000 after buying an additional 424,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,101,602,000 after acquiring an additional 186,728 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $25.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $576.74. 17,561,028 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,238,405. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $655.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $609.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" 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 assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $718.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,552,673.10. This represents a 2.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.