Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Lowered to $583.00 at Scotiabank

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price cut by Scotiabank from $585.00 to $583.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on META. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $567.16 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $308.33 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $555.99 and a 200-day moving average of $513.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 21.84 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.17, for a total value of $252,071.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,890,460.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 251,092 shares of company stock worth $132,865,496. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 1,894 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2,724.9% in the 1st quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,856,000 after buying an additional 9,646 shares in the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 663 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 28.0% during the 1st quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 480 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.