Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $575.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price decreased by Canaccord Genuity Group from $610.00 to $575.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on META. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Benchmark restated a hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $494.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $404.85. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $229.85 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend 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 Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% 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.