Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,297 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,890 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,582,876,000 after buying an additional 342,742 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $554.08 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $568.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $521.17. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year 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. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total value of $8,906,174.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 28,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,377,575.12. The trade was a 36.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total value of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 338,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 141,498 shares of company stock valued at $75,732,154 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.