Pivotal Research Lowers Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $910.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lowered by investment analysts at Pivotal Research from $930.00 to $910.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Pivotal Research’s target price indicates a potential upside of 27.01% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wedbush dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $880.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 target price (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,117.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $847.98.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $716.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $652.06 and a 200-day moving average of $696.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $4,190,037.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 88,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,857,980.20. This represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 40,113 shares of company stock valued at $24,621,042 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines 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.