Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,113 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,177 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.9% of Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ META traded up $7.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $733.63. 18,758,104 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,525,798. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $633.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $625.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $719.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total transaction of $9,796,340.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,862,237.92. This trade represents a 19.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total transaction of $342,322.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,507,676.90. This represents a 8.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 124,831 shares of company stock worth $83,868,872. 13.61% of the stock is owned by 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.