Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Lowered to $530.00 at TD Cowen

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lowered by TD Cowen from $590.00 to $530.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and set a $545.00 target price (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the 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 Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $4.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $437.35. The 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. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $229.85 and a one year high of $531.49. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 in the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Signify Wealth bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.