Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 4.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price traded up 4.5% during trading on Thursday after Evercore raised their price target on the stock from $820.00 to $860.00. The stock traded as high as $779.82 and last traded at $777.59. 34,540,331 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 98% from the average daily volume of 17,451,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $744.10.

META has been the subject of several other reports. Phillip Securities raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $795.00 to $750.00 in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $815.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $780.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. The trade was a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold a total of 123,333 shares of company stock valued at $80,795,845 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is strengthening Meta’s AI growth story. Muse reportedly reached the top of Apple’s U.S. free-app rankings, while Apptopia estimated 642,000 U.S. daily active users during its first 12 days—well ahead of ChatGPT’s early mobile adoption. Raymond James analysts suggested Meta’s AI-agent opportunity could eventually become a $50 billion business. Why Meta Platforms Stock Keeps Going Up
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their expectations for META. JPMorgan increased its price target to $920 and maintained an overweight rating. Tigress Financial raised its target to $995, Loop Capital to $955, Citizens JMP to $885, and President Capital upgraded the stock to buy with an $897 target. Analysts view AI agents as a potential new growth curve beyond advertising. Meta stock rises as analysts raise price targets
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding AI monetization and hardware distribution. Muse is being integrated with Shopify’s Shop Pay for agent-driven commerce and will be available through new wearables. Meta announced the camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses, $1,299 Meta VR Glasses and the pocket-sized Muse Charm device, creating potential revenue streams from commerce, subscriptions, advertising and hardware. Meta debuts new VR glasses and Muse Charm
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm has pushed valuation and expectations higher. META has risen sharply over the past month and trades near its 52-week high, making continued execution and evidence of monetization increasingly important.
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment and competitive risks remain significant. Reports point to collapsing free cash flow and capital expenditures approaching $145 billion, raising questions about whether Muse will generate sufficient returns. Amazon has blocked Muse from accessing its shopping inventory, and mixed reactions to the Charm device highlight the risk of another unsuccessful AI hardware product. Meta’s AI spending and valuation risks
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy and regulatory scrutiny could limit adoption. Camera-equipped glasses and AI agents continue to face concerns over recording, data use and security, while Meta also faces legal uncertainty related to the use of user data by advertising partners.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Schuylkill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $610.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $611.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a dividend of $0.5250 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company’s principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.