Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Lowered to $575.00 at Canaccord Genuity Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target lowered by Canaccord Genuity Group from $610.00 to $575.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $4.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $437.35. 18,127,395 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,199,652. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $495.08 and a 200-day moving average of $403.40. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for 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, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,574,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 65,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.50, for a total transaction of $26,272,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Members Trust Co purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $267,000. Legacy Bridge LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.8% during the first quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 891 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 230.6% during the 1st quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong now owns 161,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $78,421,000 after acquiring an additional 112,652 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 8,424 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,090,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 39.0% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 49,537 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,121,000 after buying an additional 13,893 shares in the last quarter. 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.