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, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 256,949 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,104 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 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 reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $459,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $607.60 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $658.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $603.80.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 target price (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 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 $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 654,355 shares of company stock valued at $428,564,164. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.