Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $695.00 Price Target at Loop Capital

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target reduced by Loop Capital from $900.00 to $695.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on META. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned 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.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $681.95.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $549.00 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $578.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $603.67. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $427.11 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total transaction of $453,012.27. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,071 shares of company stock valued at $175,741,082 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.