Cornerstone Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,800 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.0% of Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $50,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $17,121,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 33,648 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $19,261,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Altman Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 6,725 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,850,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 535 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $223,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.05, for a total transaction of $469,740.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,568,394.35. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 168,843 shares of company stock worth $92,083,554 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of META stock opened at $559.14 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $572.74 and a 200-day moving average of $523.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.