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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $500.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on META. Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $494.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $405.39. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock worth $620,679,759. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 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.