Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $550.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $590.00 to $550.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 24.07% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $443.29 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $494.48 and its 200-day moving average is $404.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 65,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.50, for a total transaction of $26,272,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.