Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirty-five have assigned a buy recommendation and four have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $785.3171.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $549.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $790.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $593.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $615.41.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.14 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at $462,024. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,502 shares of company stock worth $22,603,485. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.4% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,299,000 after acquiring an additional 2,670 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $88,319,000 after acquiring an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $876,000. Consolidated Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Pocket in the U.S., an AI-powered app that lets users create and share interactive games through text prompts. The product could increase engagement and expand Meta’s consumer AI ecosystem. Meta brings Pocket to U.S. users
• Positive Sentiment: Meta introduced a Mac app for Meta AI with system-wide dictation and screen-aware assistance. The company is also pricing its new Muse Code coding agent below Anthropic and OpenAI offerings, potentially helping it attract developers and build AI adoption. Meta AI launches Mac app
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong, with quarterly revenue rising 28% year over year to $60.8 billion. AI-related improvements to recommendations and ad delivery are supporting engagement, clicks and conversion efficiency. Meta drawdown analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is contesting the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to revive monopoly charges. The company argues that Facebook and Instagram users increasingly see recommended content rather than posts from friends, a defense that could influence the case’s regulatory implications. Meta fights FTC monopoly charges
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney sold shares worth roughly $10.3 million in aggregate under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. The transactions are limited as discretionary signals but may still affect investor sentiment. Meta insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Child-safety and social-media addiction litigation is intensifying. Testimony alleging that some safety tools were “designed to fail” raises the possibility of major damages, mandated product changes, restrictions on engagement features and pressure on advertising monetization. Meta social media lawsuit trial
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavier AI capital spending will depress second-half free cash flow and increase financial pressure. Those concerns follow Meta’s quarterly EPS miss, despite its revenue beat, and have contributed to the stock’s year-to-date weakness. Meta stock investment analysis

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.