Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $500.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $500.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on META. Raymond James boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META 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 50 day moving average is $494.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $405.39. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG 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 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock worth $620,679,759. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 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.