Canaccord Genuity Group Cuts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $575.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target decreased by Canaccord Genuity Group from $610.00 to $575.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $229.85 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $404.85.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 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 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of Meta Platforms 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $256,128.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,853,952. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $3,156,000. Tenon Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $239,000. Guardian Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $221,000. Treasure Coast Financial Planning purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Finer Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the first quarter. Finer Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,558 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,583,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.