Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $800.00 by Analysts at Raymond James Financial

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective reduced by Raymond James Financial from $825.00 to $800.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a “strong-buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Raymond James Financial’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.99% from the stock’s current price.

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $740.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $820.70.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded up $13.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $672.34. 4,893,018 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,374,440. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $642.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $696.74. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total transaction of $358,602.40. Following the sale, the director owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,454,330.36. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $608.35, for a total value of $314,516.95. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,478,319.15. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 40,115 shares of company stock worth $24,668,044 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after buying an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $1,191,175,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is 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/strategy bullishness: A Seeking Alpha piece rates META a “Strong buy” into Q4, citing very high gross margins (above ~82%), TTM operating cash flow north of $100B, and aggressive AI/AR/VR investments (including the Manus deal) that position Meta to lead next‑gen ad and engagement monetization. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade: Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded META from neutral to buy and set a $900 price target, signaling renewed confidence in growth and margin prospects. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns highlighted: Forbes notes Meta has returned roughly $183B to shareholders over the past decade, supporting investor confidence that management will continue capital returns and buybacks. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed earnings setup: Zacks says AI is feeding ad growth momentum ahead of Q4 results, but cautions rising costs and Reality Labs losses could temper guidance. This creates a mixed near‑term earnings risk/reward. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Price‑target moves are mixed: KeyCorp trimmed its PT from $875 to $835 but kept an overweight rating (moderating upside but maintaining conviction); Stifel cut its PT to $785 — these revisions create offsetting analyst signals. Article Title Stifel Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/market context: Nasdaq futures are softer ahead of the Fed decision and big‑tech earnings week, adding broader tech volatility into Meta’s stock reaction. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Litigation risk: Meta (with TikTok and YouTube) faces trial on youth addiction claims this week — potential liability, reputational impact and regulatory attention could pressure sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk abroad and at state level: Egypt is moving to restrict children’s social‑media use and U.S. state actions (e.g., New Mexico AG) target safety/legal exposure — these developments increase regulatory uncertainty for user engagement and ad targeting policies. Article Title Article Title

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.