Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 0.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares fell 0.5% on Thursday after Loop Capital lowered their price target on the stock from $555.00 to $550.00. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as low as $432.28 and last traded at $436.79. 5,733,704 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 18,295,748 shares. The stock had previously closed at $439.19.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on META. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,913,722.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,257,291 shares of company stock worth $612,916,087. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. S.A. Mason LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. LongView Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the first quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Wealth Partners Inc increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a market cap of $1.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $492.83 and its 200 day moving average is $406.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 EPS for the current year.

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.