Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $780.00 by Analysts at KeyCorp

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at KeyCorp from $790.00 to $780.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 33.19% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $821.86.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

META stock opened at $585.61 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $603.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $624.24. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 29.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087 over the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Keeler Thomas Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Keeler Thomas Management LLC now owns 2,258 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.7% in the second quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 38,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,477,000 after buying an additional 5,820 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 5,153,161 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,902,724,000 after buying an additional 76,730 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 107,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $63,573,000 after buying an additional 5,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.2% during the second quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,461 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, exceeding expectations of approximately $60.2 billion. Advertising revenue, ad impressions and average pricing also showed solid growth, while Instagram usage rose by double digits as AI-powered recommendations improved personalization. Meta narrows annual capex forecast, as AI buildout grows
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Reality Labs operating loss exceeded $4.6 billion but was narrower than analysts expected. The company is also exploring ways to monetize excess computing capacity, including potential enterprise customers, which could eventually help offset AI infrastructure costs. Meta’s Reality Labs lost over $4.6 billion in second quarter
• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim reaffirmed its Buy rating and $800 price target, while at least one analyst argued that the post-earnings selloff overlooks the strength of Meta’s advertising business and the one-time nature of legal and severance charges. Guggenheim Reaffirms Buy Rating for Meta Platforms
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is partnering with BlackRock on a roughly $14 billion El Paso, Texas, data-center project. The joint venture can reduce Meta’s upfront balance-sheet burden while securing future AI capacity, but the company remains exposed to long-term lease and asset-value obligations. Meta, BlackRock form $14 billion venture to develop AI data center campus in Texas
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings were $6.18 per share, well below the roughly $7.19 consensus and down from $7.14 a year earlier. Legal costs of about $2.4 billion and $1.2 billion in severance contributed to the miss, but investors are more concerned that capital expenditures consumed nearly all of Meta’s $31.9 billion in operating cash flow, sharply reducing free cash flow. Meta misses profit expectations, sticks to massive AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Meta plans to spend approximately $130 billion to $145 billion on AI and related infrastructure in 2026. Third-quarter revenue guidance of $61 billion to $64 billion was below the $63.2 billion consensus midpoint, reinforcing fears that spending, borrowing needs and infrastructure costs are rising faster than monetization. Meta tanks nearly 9%, Microsoft jumps 8% as the AI trade splits Big Tech

About Meta Platforms

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.