Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Position Lifted by Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC

Key Points

• Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its Meta stake by 1.6% to 179,103 shares (worth $118.224 million), making META about 4.6% of its portfolio and the firm's 4th-largest position.
• Meta beat Q1 estimates with EPS of $10.44 vs. $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion (up 33.1% year-over-year); analysts have a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $840.31 average price target, though individual price targets vary widely.
• Insiders have been selling recently (168,193 shares worth $107.6M over three months, including COO Javier Olivan under a 10b5-1 plan), and investors remain concerned about very large planned capex for 2026 (projected $125–$145B plus ~$10B for AI) that could pressure margins.

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 179,103 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,873 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 4.6% of Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $118,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, PMV Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.31.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and valuation support — analysts highlight a 33% revenue increase and large EPS beat, arguing META is undervalued after the pullback; this reinforces buy thesis given strong ad monetization and cash flow. Meta Is Undervalued, But Will Need A Second Growth Engine (Rating Upgrade)
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional accumulation — Fisher Asset Management recently increased its Meta stake, signaling continued confidence from large investors and supporting near-term demand for shares. Fisher Asset Management Boosts Meta Stake With 75,590 Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Data-center demand validation — Corning disclosed a multi-year, $6B supply agreement that names Meta among hyperscale customers, validating ongoing infrastructure commitment that underpins Meta’s AI/data-center strategy. Light Speed Returns: Corning Cashes In on NVIDIA Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Product roadmap — reports say Meta is building a consumer-friendly agentic AI assistant, which could drive longer-term user/product monetization but is still early-stage. Big Tech's Personal AI Agents Are Coming for the to-Do List
• Neutral Sentiment: Financing activity — Bloomberg-sourced reports say Meta is working on up to ~$13B in data-center financing for an El Paso build; that eases near-term cash outflow but also signals large ongoing capital needs. Here’s Why Meta Platforms (META) Is Among the 10 Strong Buy S&P 500 Stocks to Invest In
• Neutral Sentiment: Legal update — Meta has asked a judge to overturn a landmark jury verdict in a social-media addiction case; an appeal reduces immediate downside but legal overhang remains. Meta asks California judge to throw out landmark social media addiction verdict
• Negative Sentiment: Massive capex concern — coverage highlights Meta’s projected 2026 capex of $125–$145B (plus an extra $10B on AI), which keeps investors anxious about cash deployment, near-term margins, and capital returns. Tens of Thousands of Tech Workers Are Being Laid Off in 2026. The $725 Billion That Replaced Them Is Going to Four Companies.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — COO Javier Olivan executed stock sales under a 10b5-1 plan; while pre-arranged, such disclosures can add to short-term selling pressure. SEC filing: Javier Olivan insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pushback — some firms (eg. Mizuho) have trimmed expectations, reflecting concern that ad growth and margin leverage may slow as Meta scales heavy infra spending. Mizuho Has Lowered Expectations for Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META Stock Price

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6%

META stock opened at $616.81 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $627.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $645.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total value of $562,767.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,727,609.46. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold 168,193 shares of company stock valued at $107,642,717 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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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