Sanford C. Bernstein Lowers Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $565.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price cut by Sanford C. Bernstein from $590.00 to $565.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on META. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $494.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $405.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 34,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.52, for a total transaction of $15,737,772.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 1,277,048 shares of company stock valued at $620,679,759 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Signify Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.