Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $550.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lowered by Citigroup from $590.00 to $550.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of META opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $405.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors 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 payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $958,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,053 shares in the company, valued at $4,757,883.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,277,048 shares of company stock valued at $620,679,759 over the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

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