Umpqua Bank Has $1.94 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Umpqua Bank grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 318.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,265 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,484 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,344,552,000 after buying an additional 424,201 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,101,602,000 after buying an additional 186,728 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after buying an additional 110,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,268,104 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,670,038,000 after acquiring an additional 26,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $8.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $602.58. 10,412,777 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,822,886. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G 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. 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 fifty day simple moving average is $656.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $608.02.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,552,673.10. The trade was a 2.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 587,134 shares of company stock valued at $387,661,862 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $770.00 price target (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.31.

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.