Wolfe Research Trims Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Target Price to $500.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Wolfe Research from $530.00 to $500.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 1.32% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on META. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $493.50 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $495.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $403.14. 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 1-year low of $207.13 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total transaction of $245,578.20. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.