Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $830.00 by Analysts at Pivotal Research

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Pivotal Research from $875.00 to $830.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Finviz reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Pivotal Research’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 51.18% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on META. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $683.78.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $549.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $427.11 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $578.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $603.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.54, for a total transaction of $337,768.32. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 3,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,109,940.92. This trade represents a 13.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 249,071 shares of company stock valued at $175,741,082. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.