Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Covey Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,573 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 4.4% of Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in 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 buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after buying an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

META opened at $720.92 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $677.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $635.41.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.51, for a total transaction of $370,952.67. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,263,653.36. This trade represents a 6.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total value of $374,494.83. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,559,597.99. The trade was a 1.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,263 shares of company stock valued at $104,638,750 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $729.38.

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.