Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $575.00 at Canaccord Genuity Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target cut by Canaccord Genuity Group from $610.00 to $575.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on META. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $4.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $437.35. 18,127,395 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,199,652. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $229.85 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $495.08 and its 200 day moving average is $403.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms 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 have sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,747 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,226,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Wagner Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 28.0% in the third quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 21.7% during the third quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 7,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richelieu Gestion SA increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 29.1% during the third quarter. Richelieu Gestion SA now owns 2,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by 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.