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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) had its price target trimmed by Benchmark from $820.00 to $640.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the social networking company's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on META. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $676.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ META traded up $8.17 on Wednesday, reaching $541.32. The company had a trading volume of 6,009,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,678,933. 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 has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $590.37 and a 200-day moving average of $604.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock worth $214,968,924 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.