Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $535.00 by Analysts at Truist Financial

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective trimmed by Truist Financial from $550.00 to $535.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on META. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark restated a hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ META 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 current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $495.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $403.40. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $229.85 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during 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 anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is 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.