Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $680.00 Price Target at Wedbush

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective reduced by Wedbush from $770.00 to $680.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $690.79.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $521.52 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $621.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $608.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.85, for a total transaction of $22,050,105.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 414,293 shares of company stock worth $282,029,046 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.