Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,625 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,176 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.6% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 795 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 292,211 shares of company stock valued at $215,232,155. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $780.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $720.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $653.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $795.46.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

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.

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