Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $530.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target cut by TD Cowen from $590.00 to $530.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on META. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven 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 stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

META 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $494.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $405.39.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business 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. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock worth $620,679,759 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $3,156,000. Tenon Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $239,000. Guardian Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $221,000. Treasure Coast Financial Planning acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Finer Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the first quarter. Finer Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,558 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,583,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.