Scotiabank Lowers Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $583.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price cut by Scotiabank from $585.00 to $583.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.37.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of META stock traded up $3.36 on Thursday, hitting $570.94. The company had a trading volume of 8,536,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,126,646. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $555.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $512.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $308.33 and a twelve month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 21.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total value of $295,569.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at $18,262,708.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,573 shares of company stock valued at $133,019,910 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Security Advisor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.8% in the first quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 1,894 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2,724.9% during the 1st quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,856,000 after acquiring an additional 9,646 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 663 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 28.0% in the first quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 480 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.