Jefferies Financial Group Lowers Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $725.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $810.00 to $725.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of META opened at $583.93 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $653.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $610.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $547,995.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,649,280. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,507,676.90. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 584,113 shares of company stock valued at $385,838,234 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.