Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as “Market Outperform” by Citizens Jmp

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Citizens Jmp in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $885.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock. Citizens Jmp‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 35.14% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $885.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, CICC Research lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $773.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $823.57.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 6.1%

META stock traded down $42.65 during trading on Thursday, hitting $654.87. 20,712,194 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,578,910. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $662.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $629.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total transaction of $2,002,514.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. The trade was a 34.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 149,906 shares of company stock valued at $102,347,409 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its position 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 last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $2,948,486,000. State Street Corp boosted 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 worth $51,841,811,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510,123 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew 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 valued at $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly performance: Meta reported adjusted earnings of $7.40 per share versus the $6.54 consensus, while revenue rose 26.1% year over year to $64.6 billion, exceeding estimates. Advertising growth and AI-enhanced ad targeting remained key strengths. Meta Q3 2026 earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: AI adoption is gaining traction: Meta said its Muse AI assistant surpassed 10 million users, while AI advertising tools reportedly improved conversions, click-through rates, and ad pricing. This supports the case that AI is already strengthening Meta’s core advertising business. Meta Muse surpasses 10 million users
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly bullish: JPMorgan, Bank of America, KeyCorp, Pivotal Research, Susquehanna, and Guggenheim raised or maintained positive price targets, citing Meta’s advertising momentum and AI opportunity. Analyst views on Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: New share class: Meta plans to issue nonvoting Class C shares to help finance its AI expansion without reducing Mark Zuckerberg’s voting control. The structure may provide funding flexibility, but investors are assessing potential dilution and governance implications. Meta new share class
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending is overwhelming the earnings beat: Meta raised the lower end of its 2026 capital-expenditure outlook to $135 billion, with spending potentially reaching $145 billion. Investors are concerned that high data-center, chip, and compute costs are reducing cash generation; Meta reportedly experienced its first operating cash-flow shortfall since its IPO. Meta AI spending and earnings reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Significant legal exposure: A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion over alleged privacy violations tied to Cambridge Analytica. Meta plans to appeal, but the ruling adds to a separate $9.9 billion legal charge related to teen mental-health litigation and raises concerns about recurring liabilities. Meta New Mexico privacy penalty
• Negative Sentiment: Risk sentiment has deteriorated: Meta’s credit-risk indicator reached a record high after the results, while Reality Labs is expected to remain deeply unprofitable and new AI competitors are intensifying pressure on Muse.

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.