Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Lowered to $500.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

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

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Benchmark restated a hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 10.6 %

Shares of META stock opened at $441.38 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $495.08 and its 200 day moving average is $403.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $208.88 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business 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 32.37%. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.