Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $555.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price cut by KeyCorp from $575.00 to $555.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, 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. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 10.6 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $441.38 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $495.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $403.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $208.88 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business 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 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $27,574,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised 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 buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.