Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Lowered to $710.00 at KeyCorp

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) had its price target trimmed by KeyCorp from $750.00 to $710.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $10.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $596.25. The stock had a trading volume of 24,988,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,769,120. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The business's 50-day moving average price is $655.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $604.56.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,576,930. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 622,844 shares of company stock worth $409,212,161 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.