Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $500.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $525.00 to $500.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 1.32% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $521.30.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of META stock opened at $493.50 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $495.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $403.14. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $207.13 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.76, for a total value of $7,769,271.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,552,865.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock valued at $657,034,449. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.