Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $500.00 at Robert W. Baird

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective cut by Robert W. Baird from $525.00 to $500.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $494.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $405.39. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $229.85 and a 52-week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (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 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were 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 $14,026,880. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms 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 owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock valued at $620,679,759. 13.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $3,156,000. Tenon Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $239,000. Guardian Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $221,000. Treasure Coast Financial Planning purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Finer Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the first quarter. Finer Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,558 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,583,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.