Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $575.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from $610.00 to $575.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 29.71% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

META opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $404.27. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Treasure Coast Financial Planning acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $203,000. Finer Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.3% in 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 during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the first quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,128,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc increased its position in Meta Platforms by 63.3% in the first quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 25,842 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,548,000 after buying an additional 10,020 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP increased its position in Meta Platforms by 11.4% in the first quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 4,543 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after buying an additional 465 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.