Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Trims Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Target Price to $500.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective trimmed by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $540.00 to $500.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an underperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $443.29 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $494.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $405.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $229.85 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 20.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock valued at $620,679,759 in the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in 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 period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.