Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 12.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price fell 12.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Raymond James lowered their price target on the stock from $550.00 to $525.00. Raymond James currently has a strong-buy rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as low as $414.50 and last traded at $430.75. 39,868,671 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 127% from the average session volume of 17,587,275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $493.50.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on META. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target 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. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.76, for a total value of $7,769,271.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position 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 valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 12.4 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $495.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $403.14. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

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.