Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price fell 1.4% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $642.14 and last traded at $644.38. Approximately 20,401,642 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 20% from the average session volume of 16,958,691 shares. The stock had previously closed at $653.69.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse generated strong investor enthusiasm. Meta’s new AI agent can access services, manage tasks, send emails, make reservations and handle purchases through Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. Free and paid subscription tiers create a potential recurring-revenue stream beyond advertising. Why Are Meta Shares Soaring Today
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded Meta to Overweight and raised its price target to $820 from $640. The firm cited Meta’s frontier AI models and agents as a growth opportunity beyond advertising, with “meaningful headroom” for the stock. JPMorgan upgrades Meta on AI models and agents
• Positive Sentiment: Meta may be positioning itself as an AI-compute provider. Analysts argue that the company’s large computing commitments could exceed internal requirements, potentially allowing Meta to sell capacity alongside AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. Meta Might Be Building AWS For AI Compute
• Positive Sentiment: ARK Invest bought roughly $25 million of Meta shares, while Morgan Stanley reportedly sees about 25% additional upside from AI monetization. These moves reinforce bullish institutional sentiment. Morgan Stanley Sees 25% Meta Gain on AI Upside
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s aggressive AI spending could support future agent and cloud revenue, but dedicated computing capacity, infrastructure costs and potential margin pressure create significant return-on-investment and execution risks.
• Negative Sentiment: A reported advertising scandal involving roughly 350 ads emerged shortly after Meta’s one-day, approximately $100 billion market-value increase. The development threatens to shift attention from Muse’s promise to the company’s ongoing challenges with ad quality, platform oversight and regulatory exposure. Meta Added $100 Billion in One Day. A 350-Ad Scandal Arrived Hours Later.
• Negative Sentiment: Muse’s access to inboxes, calendars, credentials and payments raises privacy, security and consumer-trust concerns. Investors may also be taking profits after the sharp rally, while the departure of star AI researcher Andrew Tulloch adds a talent-retention concern. Star AI Researcher Is Leaving Meta

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on META. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Meta Platforms to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $763.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $787.54.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4%

The firm has a market cap of $1.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $599.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $608.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis 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 value of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,092,006. The trade was a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $754,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $910,200. The trade was a 45.33% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,227 shares of company stock worth $21,205,509. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company’s principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.