Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Lowered to $525.00 at Raymond James

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective decreased by Raymond James from $550.00 to $525.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. 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 note on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $494.48 and its 200 day moving average is $405.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at $3,552,865.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock valued at $620,679,759 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $11,285,855,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,251 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management increased its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. 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.