Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $500.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $525.00 to $500.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 12.79% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $229.85 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $494.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $404.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,574,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,469,906,000 after buying an additional 927,491 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.