Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $550.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price cut by Loop Capital from $555.00 to $550.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Loop Capital’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 24.52% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $441.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $492.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $407.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 20.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,257,876 shares of company stock worth $613,168,252 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Signify Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 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.