Zions Bancorporation N.A. Raises Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,273 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 6,926 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.3% of Zions Bancorporation N.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Zions Bancorporation N.A.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $625,125,000 after buying an additional 1,066,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $520,662,000 after buying an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $770.00 target price (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total transaction of $373,901.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,205,164.86. This trade represents a 8.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of META traded down $22.08 on Friday, reaching $580.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,123,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,206,572. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $655.95 and a 200-day moving average of $607.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

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.