Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 1% After Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price was up 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $680.00 to $860.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as high as $763.90 and last traded at $744.10. Approximately 30,137,479 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 74% from the average session volume of 17,353,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $736.59.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Meta Platforms to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $785.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $796.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $657.73, for a total transaction of $622,212.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,048,234.68. This represents a 8.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,092,006. This represents a 44.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse adoption is strengthening the AI investment case. Muse reportedly reached No. 1 on the U.S. iPhone free-app chart, with first-week downloads approaching 900,000. Reviews describing the agent as easy to use and effective for tasks such as travel planning, reservations and financial comparisons are improving confidence that Meta can bring AI to mainstream consumers. Meta’s Muse was favored for travel planning
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is pricing in new monetization opportunities. KeyCorp raised its target from $780 to $900, while Cantor Fitzgerald lifted its target from $680 to $860; both maintain overweight ratings. Analysts see agentic commerce, transaction fees, lead generation, enterprise services and paid AI features as potential “third S-curve” growth drivers alongside advertising. Meta price targets raised
• Positive Sentiment: Distribution and commerce partnerships support Muse’s platform potential. Shopify is integrating Shop Pay checkout, while PayPal and Instacart are also linked to the agent. Investors believe Meta’s large user base, advertiser relationships and messaging platforms could let Muse become a transaction layer across the internet. Shopify partners with Muse
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta Connect is an additional near-term catalyst. Meta is expected to unveil new smart glasses, including a camera-free model intended to address privacy concerns. The event could provide further evidence of Meta’s AI and hardware strategy. Meta expected to unveil camera-free smart glasses
• Negative Sentiment: Muse is also prompting disruption and execution concerns. Amazon has blocked the agent from shopping on its site, while privacy and security questions are mounting. Reports that Meta is testing human contractors to handle some calls could raise doubts about Muse’s scalability and autonomy. Meta tests human concierge for Muse
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and spending remain risks. META’s rally has increased expectations, while heavy AI infrastructure investment, rising debt and cash-flow concerns could limit upside if Muse monetization takes longer than expected. Its latest quarterly EPS missed estimates despite 28% year-over-year revenue growth.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $22,152,075,000. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 723.1% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,957,946,000 after acquiring an additional 7,732,446 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,948,486,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,608,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

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 firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $609.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $610.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

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.