Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2025 earnings at $28.33 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.90 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.80 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $8.11 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $28.15 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $7.15 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $7.52 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $7.78 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $31.67 EPS.

META has been the topic of several other research reports. Oppenheimer downgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,086.00 to $1,117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $825.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $590.32 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $704.12 and a 200 day moving average of $705.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,063 shares of the 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 $3,085,695.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 6,936 shares in the company, valued at $4,227,214.56. This trade represents a 42.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 29,024 shares of company stock valued at $19,233,987 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Pachira Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.