Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $570.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $600.00 to $570.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on META. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9 %

META traded down $4.03 on Thursday, hitting $437.35. The company had a trading volume of 18,127,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,199,652. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $495.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $403.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 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 company has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during 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 buying an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during 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 buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.