Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $550.00 by Analysts at Loop Capital

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective reduced by Loop Capital from $555.00 to $550.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the topic of several other reports. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. 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 report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $513.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $439.19 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $492.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $406.97. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $229.85 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,913,722.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,257,291 shares of company stock valued at $612,916,087 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake 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 buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased 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 valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.