Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $525.00 Price Target at Raymond James

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price reduced by Raymond James from $550.00 to $525.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a strong-buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $4.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $437.35. The company had a trading volume of 18,127,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,199,652. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $495.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $403.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the 4th 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 purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th 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. raised its position in 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 worth $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.