Morgan Stanley Cuts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $775.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $825.00 to $775.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $849.00 to $856.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.54.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $579.23 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $640.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $662.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 161,448 shares of company stock worth $103,333,788. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept an “Overweight” stance and named META a top pick even as it trimmed its price target to $775 — that endorsement (and the analyst framing of Meta as a buy-the-dip) is helping sentiment among institutional investors. Morgan Stanley Trims PT on Meta Platforms (META) to $775 Amid Softer Advertising Backdrop
• Positive Sentiment: Infrastructure tie-up: Meta and Corning broke ground on a major optical-cable expansion to support Meta’s AI data?center buildout — a signal that Meta’s AI capex is progressing and that supply-chain partnerships are being secured. Corning and Meta Celebrate Start of Construction on Cable Manufacturing Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Product & monetization moves: Meta launched new Ray?Ban prescription smart glasses and is testing Instagram Plus subscriptions, while rolling out AI-driven engagement features — all moves that can expand monetization levers beyond core ads over time. Meta unveils two new Ray-Ban prescription smart glasses
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta reorganized to form an elite AI lab for recommendations (headed by a former TikTok exec) — potentially meaningful for engagement/AI monetization but benefits are medium? to long?term and execution dependent. Meta is assembling an elite new AI lab for its recommendations division
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-term price action is also being driven by a risk?on rotation back into growth names; some of today’s bounce looks like sector flow rather than company?specific news. What’s Behind The Bounce In Meta Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk remains the biggest overhang — recent court losses (including cases that found harm to teens) create a bellwether precedent, raise the chance of many follow?on suits and could materially increase liability or legal costs if rulings are upheld. Meta plans to appeal, but the uncertainty is weighing on multiples. Meta was finally held accountable for harming teens. Now what?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and operational headwinds: Indonesia has summoned Meta over child?safety compliance, and the company disclosed another round of layoffs (particularly in VR/Reality Labs) — both raise near?term execution and regulatory friction risk. Meta unveils two new Ray-Ban prescription smart glasses

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.