Raymond James Trims Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Target Price to $525.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price reduced by Raymond James from $550.00 to $525.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a strong-buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

META stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $229.85 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $494.48 and a 200-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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock worth $620,679,759 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third 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 last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.