Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Earns Buy Rating from Rosenblatt Securities

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at Rosenblatt Securities in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $886.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 24.91% from the company’s previous close.

META has been the subject of a number of other reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $865.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. President Capital upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $660.00 to $897.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $808.88.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.7%

Meta Platforms stock traded down $27.39 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $709.33. The stock had a trading volume of 20,582,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,522,361. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $779.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $653.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $625.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 27.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at $3,875,854.26. The trade was a 34.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value 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 a total of 149,797 shares of company stock valued at $102,180,385 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 723.1% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $2,948,486,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,608,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares during the period. 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: Bank of America expects Meta to exceed third-quarter revenue expectations, forecasting $63.8 billion versus a $63.3 billion consensus estimate, and maintained a Buy rating with an $810 price target. Meta expected to beat revenue forecasts as AI boosts advertising, says Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: Meta released the open-weight Muse Spark model for coding and AI-agent tasks, while its collaboration with Apple enables developers to run the model locally on high-end Mac computers. The developments could broaden adoption of Meta’s AI technology and reduce reliance on cloud infrastructure. Meta releases open-weight Muse Spark model
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan reaffirmed its Overweight rating and set a $920 price target, implying substantial upside, while other analysts including KeyCorp and Rosenblatt also maintained positive ratings. JPMorgan reaffirms Meta rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expected to report third-quarter results on October 21. Investors will focus on advertising growth, user metrics, profitability, capital expenditures, and management’s outlook for AI infrastructure spending. Meta Q3 earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta withdrew $25 million from a previously announced $65 million effort to support political candidates considered favorable to the AI industry. The move may reduce near-term spending but signals a change in its political strategy. Meta Withdraws $25 Million from Its Midterms Push
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst-related pressure is weighing on the stock after Goldman Sachs lowered its expectations and Meta was reported down following an analyst downgrade, countering the more bullish JPMorgan view. Meta stock price down on analyst downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that AI infrastructure spending could reach approximately $205 billion in 2027. Heavy capital expenditures are reducing free cash flow, while potential legal charges and regulatory scrutiny add to earnings risk. Meta AI spending could hit $205 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Seven U.S. senators are questioning Meta’s claim of $6.6 billion in research tax credits for AI data centers, creating potential tax liability and reputational risk. Senators question Meta AI data-center tax credits

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 operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.

Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.

Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.