Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 183 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,114 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 183 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.2% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $576.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $655.23 and a 200-day moving average of $608.48. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.