Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $530.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lowered by TD Cowen from $590.00 to $530.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $4.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $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. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $495.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $403.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $229.85 and a 52-week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 927,491 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.