Columbia Bank Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Columbia Bank grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,018 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of Columbia Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Columbia Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd 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 acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the second 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 stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 433.3% during the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $823.93.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $639.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $676.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $706.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $1,590,690.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,962,956.64. The trade was a 21.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $365,610.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,347 shares in the company, valued at $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 41,440 shares of company stock worth $26,337,795 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.