Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $624.00 Price Target at Cantor Fitzgerald

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) had its target price trimmed by Cantor Fitzgerald from $790.00 to $624.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' FY2025 earnings at $22.64 EPS.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on META. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $684.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $501.48. 14,540,656 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,827,120. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The business's 50 day moving average is $608.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $606.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $531.22, for a total value of $489,253.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 28,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,096,741.18. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 379,901 shares of company stock worth $260,806,516 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 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.