Columbia Bank Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Columbia Bank lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 33.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,018 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.1% of Columbia Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Columbia Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $58,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 price objective (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer cut Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $823.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. This trade represents a 7.55% 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, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,440 shares of company stock worth $26,337,795. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2%

META opened at $639.60 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $676.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $706.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

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.