Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Buys 15,492 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 199,357 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,492 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 4.0% of Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $70,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $499,020,000 after purchasing an additional 249,926 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 284.0% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.9% in the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on META. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.3 %

NASDAQ META traded down $21.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $480.39. 13,105,747 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,977,242. The company has a 50 day moving average of $494.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $397.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $207.13 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total value of $217,910.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,585,110. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total value of $217,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,585,110. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total value of $253,697.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,924,027.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550. 13.75% of the stock is currently 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.