40,132 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Bought by Zions Bancorporation National Association UT

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 40,132 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $23,130,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.5% of Zions Bancorporation National Association UT's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on META. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $790.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $718.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $653.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $793.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 289,356 shares of company stock worth $211,138,344. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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