Cadence Bank Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cadence Bank trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,187 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. S.A. Mason LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Northern Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $525.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,135 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $535,549.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,130,103.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 311,348 shares of company stock valued at $154,678,120 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $12.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $465.70. 14,210,133 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,196,824. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.38 and a 1-year high of $542.81. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $493.33 and its 200-day moving average is $473.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.