Meta Platforms’ (META) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Rosenblatt Securities

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by Rosenblatt Securities in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $886.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ target price indicates a potential upside of 27.54% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on META. Wedbush boosted their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Evercore upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $860.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $763.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Three investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $811.24.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $10.73 on Tuesday, reaching $694.71. 4,185,866 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,441,232. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $657.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $627.42. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $779.82. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its 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 return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%. The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 28.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the firm’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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total transaction of $28,510,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,515,624.16. This represents a 17.82% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,331 shares of company stock worth $101,233,569. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 162,909 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,784,873,000 after buying an additional 1,815,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,429,812 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,964,745,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed its “buy” rating and assigned an $886 price target, implying substantial upside from the recent $705.44 level. Rosenblatt reaffirms Meta buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Muse and Meta’s massive user base offer a potential monetization catalyst. Reports highlight early interest in the company’s AI assistant and argue that even limited advertising or commerce adoption across Meta’s roughly 3.5 billion users could help justify its heavy AI investment. Meta AI spending and Muse adoption
• Neutral Sentiment: Wednesday’s earnings report is the key near-term event. Investors want evidence that AI-driven advertising growth is accelerating, while monitoring capital expenditures, margins and management’s outlook. The results could also influence broader confidence in the AI investment cycle. Meta earnings preview
• Negative Sentiment: Funding and spending concerns are weighing on sentiment. Coverage suggests Meta may face pressure to raise capital to fund its AI buildout, potentially diluting shareholders or changing the company’s financial profile. Investors are also concerned that soaring capital expenditures could pressure margins even if revenue growth remains strong. Meta equity raise and AI spending concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational risk remains a minor overhang. Meta apologized after suspending the “No Kings” Instagram account, renewing concerns about content-moderation decisions and political scrutiny. Meta apologizes over Instagram suspension

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.