Wedbush Reiterates Neutral Rating for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by stock analysts at Wedbush in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $595.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.96% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $883.00 to $886.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $572.34 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $790.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $592.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $610.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,987 shares of company stock worth $19,202,995. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s large AI investment is attracting bullish attention. Analysts and market commentators argue that improved recommendation and advertising systems could increase the value of user attention and potentially challenge Google in search-related markets. These claims are forward-looking, but they support the case that Meta’s advertising business may remain undervalued. Meta’s $60 Billion AI Machine Could Dethrone Google Search by Year-End
• Positive Sentiment: Indian regulators approved an IPO for Jio Platforms, in which Meta is a major shareholder. A successful listing could provide a valuation reference and improve the potential visibility and liquidity of Meta’s investment, although the direct financial impact on Meta is uncertain. Meta- and Google-backed Indian telecom operator Jio Platforms gets regulatory nod for IPO
• Neutral Sentiment: Former Meta vice president Alessio Sanfilippo was appointed CEO of Redfin following its acquisition by Rocket. The move highlights Meta’s executive talent but has limited direct effect on Meta’s earnings or valuation. Redfin fills CEO role with former Meta VP Alessio Sanfilippo after acquisition by Rocket
• Negative Sentiment: Meta agreed to an approximately $17 billion to $18 billion settlement with U.S. states over allegations that its platforms contributed to addictive social-media use among children. The agreement reportedly requires stronger age verification, creating potentially significant financial, compliance and user-experience costs while keeping regulatory scrutiny elevated. Explainer: Settlement requires Meta to check young users’ ages. How will that work?
• Negative Sentiment: Meta removed dozens of Facebook and Instagram advertisements in India that allegedly used pornographic bait to distribute malware capable of stealing bank credentials. The incident raises renewed concerns about ad-screening effectiveness, user trust, fraud liability and possible regulatory action. Meta removes ads for fraud apps posing as porn after India sounds alarm
• Negative Sentiment: Research cited by reports claims Temu spent as much as $962 million on ads that helped finance fake creators on Meta’s platforms. If substantiated, the allegations could increase pressure on Meta to improve advertiser and creator verification. Temu spent up to $962 million on ads that helped finance an army of fake creators on Meta platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s smart glasses continue to face privacy concerns, prompting a public-relations campaign and updated privacy settings. Venue restrictions and consumer unease could slow adoption of a product category viewed as strategically important for Meta’s hardware and AI ambitions. Meta goes on a PR blitz and updates privacy settings as venues restrict smart glasses

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.