Convergence Investment Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 29.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,452 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,008 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.3% of Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock worth $525,534,818. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $657.50 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $648.73 and a 200 day moving average of $594.06. 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 announced 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 company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio 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.