Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $740.00 to $628.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the social networking company's stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $679.02.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.6 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $14.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $547.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,064,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,374,342. The stock's fifty day moving average is $587.00 and its 200 day moving average is $604.53. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $427.11 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. 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 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock worth $214,968,924 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during 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.