Cornerstone Planning LLC Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Cornerstone Planning LLC opened a new position in Meta Platforms, buying 7,699 shares valued at about $5.1 million. The stake makes META about 1.1% of the firm’s portfolio and its 25th-largest holding.
• Meta’s latest quarterly results topped expectations, with EPS of $10.44 versus $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.
• The stock was trading lower and under pressure from broader tech weakness, while analysts remained mostly positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $840.60. Recent insider sales and privacy/data-security concerns were also noted as headwinds.

Cornerstone Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,699 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $5,099,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of Cornerstone Planning LLC's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $563.85 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $619.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $633.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $317,162.16. Following the sale, the director owned 3,943 shares in the company, valued at $2,481,290.47. This trade represents a 11.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is making a major strategic push in India, investing $900 million in fintech startup CRED and appointing its founder, Kunal Shah, to lead WhatsApp. Investors may view this as a growth-oriented move that strengthens Meta’s positioning in a key market. Indian fintech firm CRED to raise $900 million from Meta at $4.5 billion valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continued to highlight upside potential for META, with reports noting Wall Street price targets implying substantial upside and framing the recent pullback as a buying opportunity. Meta Taps New WhatsApp Boss as Part of $900 Million Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expanding Instagram beyond mobile with new TV features, a product move that could open another engagement channel but is not yet a material financial catalyst. Meta Takes on Streaming Giants With New ‘Instagram for TV' Offerings
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is pausing an internal mouse-tracking and employee activity program while it reviews data-security concerns. The move may reduce near-term controversy, but it also underscores internal governance and privacy issues around its AI efforts. Meta to pause internal mouse-tracking tech while examining data security issues
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of a leaked employee-activity database from Meta’s AI training program intensified backlash and raised concerns about internal data security and employee trust, which can weigh on sentiment. Meta pauses an AI training program that tracks employees' keystrokes after a companywide leak
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are also being dragged by a broader tech selloff, with Meta included in a drop across the Magnificent 7 as investors rotate out of high-growth names. The Magnificent 7 Selloff Is a Rare Buying Opportunity

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

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