The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $500.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $500.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on META. Needham & Company LLC restated an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 10.6 %

NASDAQ META 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. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $208.88 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $495.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $403.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $305,370.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the third 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 raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.