Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 12.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price dropped 12.7% on Thursday after Raymond James lowered their price target on the stock from $550.00 to $525.00. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as low as $414.50 and last traded at $430.75. Approximately 39,868,671 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 127% from the average daily volume of 17,587,275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $493.50.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on META. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $512.18.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 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 value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock valued at $657,034,449. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $495.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $403.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

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.