Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $500.00 at Guggenheim

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target lowered by Guggenheim from $520.00 to $500.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Guggenheim’s target price points to a potential upside of 13.46% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on META. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 target price (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $52.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $440.70. 66,262,968 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,983,434. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $495.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $403.14. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $208.88 and a 52-week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,368,244 shares of company stock valued at $657,034,449 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. S.A. Mason LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Madison Wealth Partners Inc increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. 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.