Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives “Overweight” Rating from KeyCorp

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by KeyCorp in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $760.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price points to a potential upside of 25.16% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on META. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.24.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 9.2%

Shares of META stock traded down $61.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $607.23. 25,174,688 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,628,888. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $630.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $648.65. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 29.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $670.84, for a total transaction of $421,958.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 2,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,232.48. This represents a 20.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 167,155 shares of company stock valued at $107,067,129. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Bayban boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 outperformance — Meta posted a sizeable revenue and EPS beat (revenue ~$56.3B; EPS well above consensus), confirming robust ad momentum and AI monetization that support longer?term growth. PR Newswire: Meta Reports First Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Creator payments pilot — Meta began offering USDC stablecoin payouts to select creators in Colombia and the Philippines, expanding payment options and cross?border monetization tools for the creator economy. PYMNTS: Meta Begins Offering Stablecoin Payments to Creators
• Positive Sentiment: Energy/infra moves — Meta announced partnerships (space?based solar and long?duration storage) to secure continuous power for AI data centers, addressing a key operational/ESG risk tied to huge compute demand. InsiderMonkey: Meta Pursues Space Solar
• Positive Sentiment: Business AI traction — Meta says its business AI now facilitates ~10 million conversations per week, evidence that AI products are gaining usage and generating monetization opportunities. TechCrunch: Meta business AI usage
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/model tweaks — Some houses nudged FY estimates (small EPS tweaks) and remain split between buy vs. hold as they weigh valuation against the large capex ramp.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling disclosed — COO Javier Oliván sold shares under a Rule 10b5?1 plan; notable in size but pre?planned and not unusual for exec plans. SEC: Insider Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Massive CapEx raise — Management lifted 2026 capex guidance sharply to build AI data centers; investors see this as a near?term cash?flow/headwinds risk that outweighs the quarter’s beat. Reuters: Meta Lifts CapEx Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Planned bond sale to fund AI — Reports say Meta may raise $20–$25B in investment?grade bonds to finance its AI expansion, underscoring how the capex program will be funded and adding financing/flexibility concerns. Invezz: Meta eyes up to $25B bond sale
• Negative Sentiment: After?hours/early selloff — Despite the beat, shares dropped sharply in extended trading as markets punished the higher spend and mixed forward signals. Invezz: Meta stock sinks after earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and costly bets — The EU charged Meta under the Digital Services Act for failing to block under?13 users (potential fines/compliance costs), and Reality Labs posted another multi?billion loss; both increase execution and legal risk. Reuters: EU Charges Over Underage Users CNBC: Reality Labs Loss
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst reaction — JPMorgan downgraded META to Neutral and several analysts cut targets after the guidance/capex move, amplifying selling pressure (downgrade reported by market sources).

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.