Cantor Fitzgerald Has Lowered Expectations for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target trimmed by Cantor Fitzgerald from $730.00 to $720.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2025 earnings at $25.53 EPS.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities 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, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $652.98.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $623.50 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $598.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $558.76. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $382.08 and a 1-year high of $638.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total value of $237,128.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This trade represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 567,111 shares of company stock worth $345,453,784 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,751,000 after buying an additional 7,089 shares during the last quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 55.9% in the second quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 1,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.2% in the second quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 90,060 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $45,410,000 after acquiring an additional 5,250 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 111,306 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $56,123,000 after purchasing an additional 4,487 shares during the period. Finally, Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,095 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. 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.