Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 892 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,222 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 892 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.6% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Marin boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Marin now owns 1,611 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $943,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $2.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $704.28. The stock had a trading volume of 12,743,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,336,421. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $686.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $638.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $828.00 price objective (up from $807.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $812.00 price objective (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $736.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 153,764 shares of company stock worth $105,721,208 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.