Raymond James Trims Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Target Price to $525.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target trimmed by Raymond James from $550.00 to $525.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a strong-buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on META. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $404.85. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 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.