Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $520.00 at Barclays

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target cut by research analysts at Barclays from $550.00 to $520.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential upside of 17.30% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on META. Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $404.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap 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. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $229.85 and a 52-week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.