Scotiabank Has Lowered Expectations for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price dropped by Scotiabank from $627.00 to $525.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.72% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on META. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $681.67.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $18.58 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $482.90. The stock had a trading volume of 8,811,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,764,780. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $608.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $607.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total transaction of $22,515,282.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.22, for a total transaction of $489,253.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,096,741.18. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 379,901 shares of company stock worth $260,806,516 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is 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.