Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 272 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hancock Whitney Corp cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 98,771 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.7% of Hancock Whitney Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $49,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $578.92.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total value of $453,015.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,944,071.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 365,761 shares of company stock valued at $190,846,038 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of META opened at $564.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $573.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $507.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $497.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.