Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $555.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price cut by KeyCorp from $575.00 to $555.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 10.6 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $441.38 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $208.88 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $495.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $403.40.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 13.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.