Zions Bancorporation N.A. Purchases 6,926 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 23.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 36,273 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,926 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.3% of Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,928,185,000 after buying an additional 204,412 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,885,000. Finally, KKM Financial LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 13,130 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,516,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 585,605 shares of company stock valued at $386,710,448. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $626.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company’s 50-day moving average is $656.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $608.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.