Cornerstone Enterprises LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cornerstone Enterprises LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,615 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.3% of Cornerstone Enterprises LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Cornerstone Enterprises LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned 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 $690.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.39, for a total value of $500,462.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,340 shares in the company, valued at $15,943,062.60. This trade represents a 3.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 414,293 shares of company stock worth $282,029,046. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $12.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $508.60. 8,855,122 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,762,531. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $621.07 and a 200 day moving average of $608.54.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.