Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.2% on Analyst Downgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 1.2% during trading on Monday after KeyCorp lowered their price target on the stock from $575.00 to $555.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as low as $473.40 and last traded at $475.44. 6,905,431 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 17,017,107 shares. The stock had previously closed at $481.07.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on META. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the 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 sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the 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 sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,391,935 shares of company stock valued at $666,288,408. Company insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,856 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 36,738 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,029,000 after buying an additional 2,412 shares in the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,396 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Herbst Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,467,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $494.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $401.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.42%.

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.