Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Rating Reiterated by Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $545.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $600.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on META. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $4.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $437.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,127,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,199,652. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $229.85 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $495.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $403.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,747 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,226,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 28.0% during the third quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 21.7% in the third quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 7,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the period. Finally, Richelieu Gestion SA raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Richelieu Gestion SA now owns 2,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 585 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.