Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $480.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $535.00 to $480.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on META. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ META opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $405.39. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $229.85 and a 52 week high of $531.49. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock valued at $620,679,759. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. S.A. Mason LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the first quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Wealth Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.