Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2025 earnings at $28.33 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.90 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.80 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $8.11 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $28.15 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $7.15 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $7.52 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $7.78 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $31.67 EPS.

META has been the subject of a number of other research reports. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. JMP Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $825.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $590.32 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $704.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $705.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,347 shares in the company, valued at $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.23, for a total transaction of $312,386.91. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 15,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,245,927.46. This trade represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,024 shares of company stock worth $19,233,987. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. 1776 Wealth LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 137.2% during the first quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC now owns 1,167 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 20.4% in the first quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.