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 analysts at Citizens Jmp in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $885.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock. Citizens Jmp‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 36.47% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho set a $750.00 price target on Meta Platforms and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 7.0%

Meta Platforms stock traded down $49.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $648.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 34,312,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,646,373. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.32, 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 current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $662.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $629.10.

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 business’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 value of $21,359,386.56. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 149,906 shares of company stock worth $102,347,409 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 723.1% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,957,946,000 after purchasing an additional 7,732,446 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $2,948,486,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,036,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,784,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,017 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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.