Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given “Overweight” Rating at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $545.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $600.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $4.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $437.35. 18,127,395 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,199,652. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $229.85 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $495.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $403.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Signify Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.