Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Lifted by Hancock Whitney Corp

Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 100,053 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,917 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.9% of Hancock Whitney Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $58,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after purchasing an additional 110,040 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $676.55.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 343,068 shares of company stock worth $237,676,335. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.1 %

META opened at $520.79 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's 50 day moving average is $594.44 and its 200-day moving average is $605.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 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.

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