Achmea Investment Management B.V. Purchases 15,104 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 256,949 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,104 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.5% of Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $150,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total transaction of $567,127.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,725 shares in the company, valued at $21,760,768.50. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 22,035 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.63, for a total value of $13,631,512.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 654,355 shares of company stock worth $428,564,164 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. UBS Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.9 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $607.60 on Monday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $658.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $603.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

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.