Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $500.00 at Wolfe Research

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lowered by Wolfe Research from $530.00 to $500.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wolfe Research currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of META stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $494.48 and a 200-day moving average of $404.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. 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 P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. 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. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.