Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $500.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $525.00 to $500.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target indicates a potential upside of 1.32% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $521.30.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $493.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $207.13 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $495.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $403.14.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock valued at $657,034,449 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.