Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $520.00 at Barclays

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price cut by research analysts at Barclays from $550.00 to $520.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential upside of 17.85% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price objective (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 10.6 %

Shares of META traded down $52.25 on Thursday, reaching $441.25. 73,885,997 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,073,053. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $495.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $403.14. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $208.88 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at $3,552,865.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton grew its stake 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 valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake 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 valued at $79,212,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 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.