Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $480.00 Price Target at Wedbush

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Wedbush from $570.00 to $480.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective points to a potential downside of 2.74% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $518.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $493.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $207.13 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $495.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $403.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.76, for a total value of $7,769,271.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.76, for a total value of $7,769,271.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms 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 $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449. 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 company. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its position in shares of 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 lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Wealth Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.