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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price decreased by Wolfe Research from $530.00 to $500.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wolfe Research currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. 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. Needham & Company LLC restated an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $441.38 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $208.88 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $495.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $403.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (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 32.37%. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at $27,574,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during 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 during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during 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.