Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Keeps “Market Outperform” Rating at Citizens Jmp

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating restated by research analysts at Citizens Jmp in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $885.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock. Citizens Jmp‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 37.68% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $763.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Arete Research raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $806.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $54.72 on Thursday, reaching $642.80. The stock had a trading volume of 33,505,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,642,604. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $779.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $662.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $629.10.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.25 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 27.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at $3,875,854.26. This represents a 34.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total transaction of $21,359,386.56. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 149,906 shares of company stock valued at $102,347,409 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after acquiring an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,230,426,000 after acquiring an additional 162,909 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,429,812 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,964,745,000 after acquiring an additional 404,948 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta reported third-quarter revenue of $64.6 billion, up 26.1% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $7.40 per share, exceeding Wall Street estimates. Advertising growth, higher ad prices and AI-driven improvements in targeting and engagement supported the results. META’s Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Meta said its Muse AI assistant surpassed 10 million users shortly after launch, strengthening the long-term case for AI-related advertising, commerce and subscription revenue. Analysts including JPMorgan, Bank of America and Pivotal Research raised their price targets, maintaining bullish ratings. Meta falls as investors balance Muse growth with rising AI costs
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta announced a new non-voting Class C share structure intended to help finance its AI buildout without reducing Mark Zuckerberg’s voting control. The move could provide funding flexibility, but investors are evaluating potential dilution and governance implications. Meta to issue new class of shares
• Negative Sentiment: Meta raised the lower end of its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to $135 billion, with spending potentially reaching $145 billion. The investment pushed quarterly free cash flow negative, prompting concerns that AI returns may take longer to justify the infrastructure bill. Meta stock sinks as AI spend pushes free cash flow negative
• Negative Sentiment: Credit-default-swap prices for Meta reached a record high, signaling increased concern about balance-sheet and financing risk as the company considers funding its AI expansion. The market reaction also weighed on power-equipment suppliers tied to Meta’s data-center spending. Bond market warning on Meta’s borrowing
• Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in a Cambridge Analytica-related privacy case; the company plans to appeal. Separately, Meta faces an Australian class-action lawsuit alleging that its platforms harm children, adding to regulatory and litigation uncertainty. Meta ordered to pay $25 billion to New Mexico

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.