Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) PT Lowered to $500.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $540.00 to $500.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.57% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $57.09 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $436.41. The company had a trading volume of 62,510,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,928,209. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $495.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $403.14. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $208.88 and a 52-week high of $531.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,723,496.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.