Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Cornerstone Advisors LLC

Cornerstone Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,700 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 27,800 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.7% of Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $42,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $11,285,855,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,251 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $0.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $476.79. 15,149,416 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,694,282. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $493.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $471.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 311,106 shares of company stock worth $154,542,945 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.