Monness Crespi & Hardt Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $808.00 to $890.00 in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 24.21% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on META. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $870.00 target price (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $847.98.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $716.50 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $652.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $696.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.29. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $1,590,690.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,962,956.64. This represents a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 40,113 shares of company stock worth $24,621,042 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldstone Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the second quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.4% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $43,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.8% in the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $130,467,000 after purchasing an additional 38,432 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $155,387,000 after purchasing an additional 20,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat + AI narrative shift: Meta reported stronger?than?expected Q4 revenue and EPS and management framed ad strength as early proof that AI investments are improving monetization and engagement — a narrative some analysts now call an AI profit cycle. Meta’s Story Just Flipped — Seeking Alpha
• Positive Sentiment: Strong guidance & analyst upgrades: Q1 revenue guidance topped Street expectations and many firms raised price targets or reiterated buys, supporting the recent rally and giving institutional investors cover to support higher valuations. MarketBeat: Meta Soars After?Hours
• Neutral Sentiment: Business diversification tests: Meta is piloting premium subscriptions for Instagram/Facebook/WhatsApp and expanding AI features — potential long?term upside but unclear near?term revenue impact. CNBC: Premium subscription tests
• Neutral Sentiment: Supply deals validate buildout but signal capital intensity: large supplier agreements (e.g., with Corning) back the AI data?center plan while confirming heavy multi?year spending. CNBC: Corning deal
• Negative Sentiment: Massive 2026 CapEx: Management guided to $115B–$135B of capex for 2026 — far above prior levels — raising near?term cash intensity and margin dilution concerns despite management saying operating income should hold. Reuters: CapEx rise
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs drag: XR/Reality Labs continues to burn cash (multi?billion losses), creating an ongoing margin headwind and execution risk for non?ad businesses. TechCrunch: $19B VR burn
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory & reputational headlines: A New Mexico trial alleging platforms exposed minors to exploitation and reports about content?blocking controversies add legal and reputational risk that can pressure multiple?quarter sentiment. Reuters: New Mexico trial
• Negative Sentiment: Near?term profit?taking & headline noise: high short?term expectations after the rally, occasional pundit criticism (e.g., Jim Cramer) and small insider sales add to volatility and can push the stock down after its run. 247WallSt: Jim Cramer critique

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.