Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 6% After Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded up 6% during trading on Monday after Phillip Securities upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $597.52 and last traded at $590.24. Approximately 25,409,168 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 50% from the average session volume of 16,995,676 shares. The stock had previously closed at $556.71.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Truist Financial cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $770.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 37,770 shares of company stock worth $23,034,051. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Muse Code, its first AI coding agent, as it expands Meta Superintelligence Labs and competes more directly with Anthropic and OpenAI. The product could create a new AI-services growth avenue and demonstrate potential returns from the company’s substantial AI investments. Meta debuts first AI coding agent to take on Anthropic and OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Phillip Securities upgraded Meta to “strong buy,” providing a favorable analyst signal following the recent earnings-related selloff. Meta Platforms upgraded by Phillip Securities
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta and other major AI companies are scheduled to discuss voluntary safety testing with White House advisers. Cooperation could help shape AI policy, although the meeting also underscores growing scrutiny of advanced AI systems. Meta, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI to meet with Trump White House
• Negative Sentiment: A Senate committee advanced online child-safety legislation that could increase Meta’s legal exposure for harms involving minors and potentially challenge its liability protections in the United States. Meta, Google Online Child Safety Rules Advance in US Senate
• Negative Sentiment: Meta apologized to Indian officials over temporarily restricting a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as reported content-moderation and operational errors. The incident raises reputational and regulatory risks, including possible challenges to Meta’s “safe harbor” protections in India. Meta apologises to India for restricting PM Modi’s post
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is among Big Tech companies committed to roughly $1.09 trillion in future lease payments, largely for AI data centers. The spending supports long-term AI capacity but increases fixed-cost, capital-allocation and margin risks after Meta’s quarterly EPS missed estimates. AI data-centre race builds $1 trillion lease burden for Big Tech

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $600.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $622.36. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.91%.

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.