KeyCorp Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price dropped by analysts at KeyCorp from $710.00 to $645.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price indicates a potential upside of 18.07% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on META. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $704.62.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 6.7 %

NASDAQ META opened at $546.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $631.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $609.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.69, for a total transaction of $21,721,069.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 487,453 shares of company stock valued at $326,680,904 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Breakwater Capital Group increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.6% in the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 3,374 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Retireful LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $831,000. Chatham Capital Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 5,989 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,452,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 37,528 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $21,630,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.