Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Lowered to $565.00 at Sanford C. Bernstein

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target decreased by Sanford C. Bernstein from $590.00 to $565.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on META. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. One 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 stock. Based on data from 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 %

META stock traded down $4.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $437.35. 18,127,395 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,199,652. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $495.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $403.40. 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 $1.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $229.85 and a 1-year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 available at this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton increased its position 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 worth $1,819,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position 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 worth $79,212,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. 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.