Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Lowered to $540.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $585.00 to $540.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.42% from the stock’s previous close.

META has been the subject of several other reports. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.43.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of META stock opened at $493.50 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a market cap 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. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $495.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $403.14.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.76, for a total value of $7,769,271.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at $27,574,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.76, for a total transaction of $7,769,271.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock valued at $657,034,449. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.