Meta Platforms’ (META) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Rosenblatt Securities

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Rosenblatt Securities in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $886.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 28.78% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. New Street Research reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $580.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $811.24.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $17.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $688.00. 2,743,199 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,432,363. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $657.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $627.42. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $779.82.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 28.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total value of $28,510,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares in the company, valued at $131,515,624.16. This represents a 17.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 148,331 shares of company stock worth $101,233,569 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.6% during the second quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 18,777 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares in the last quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 33.6% in the second quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 3,031 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the period. William John Sempolinski purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,107,000. Sone Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 38.2% in the second quarter. Sone Capital Management LLC now owns 16,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,046,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440 shares during the period. Finally, Lakewood Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 63.7% in the second quarter. Lakewood Capital Management LP now owns 115,985 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,333,000 after purchasing an additional 45,130 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed its “buy” rating and assigned an $886 price target, implying substantial upside from the recent $705.44 level. Rosenblatt reaffirms Meta buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Muse and Meta’s massive user base offer a potential monetization catalyst. Reports highlight early interest in the company’s AI assistant and argue that even limited advertising or commerce adoption across Meta’s roughly 3.5 billion users could help justify its heavy AI investment. Meta AI spending and Muse adoption
• Neutral Sentiment: Wednesday’s earnings report is the key near-term event. Investors want evidence that AI-driven advertising growth is accelerating, while monitoring capital expenditures, margins and management’s outlook. The results could also influence broader confidence in the AI investment cycle. Meta earnings preview
• Negative Sentiment: Funding and spending concerns are weighing on sentiment. Coverage suggests Meta may face pressure to raise capital to fund its AI buildout, potentially diluting shareholders or changing the company’s financial profile. Investors are also concerned that soaring capital expenditures could pressure margins even if revenue growth remains strong. Meta equity raise and AI spending concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational risk remains a minor overhang. Meta apologized after suspending the “No Kings” Instagram account, renewing concerns about content-moderation decisions and political scrutiny. Meta apologizes over Instagram suspension

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.