Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $480.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $535.00 to $480.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the topic of several other reports. Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9 %

Meta Platforms stock traded down $4.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $437.35. 18,127,395 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,199,652. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $495.08 and its 200-day moving average is $403.40. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $229.85 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued 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 yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 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 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 approximately $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms 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. Insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 in the last ninety days. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,469,906,000 after buying an additional 927,491 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.