Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $880.00 Price Target at Wedbush

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective cut by Wedbush from $920.00 to $880.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on META. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $818.59.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $658.77 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $659.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $707.02. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $643.23, for a total value of $333,836.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 29,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,101,358.08. This trade represents a 1.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,478,698 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,587,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of the South boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stores Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reported to be developing new multimodal AI — an image/video model codenamed “Mango” and a text model called “Avocado” targeted for H1‑2026, which could accelerate product differentiation and ad/engagement upgrades. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. federal action on AI (an executive order to create a national AI framework) is being viewed as a net positive for Big Tech — it could reduce a patchwork of state rules and lower compliance complexity for large platforms like Meta. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush trimmed its price target from $920 to $880 but kept an “outperform” rating — the cut tempers upside expectations but the firm still implies substantial upside vs. current levels. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Austrias Supreme Court ruled Meta’s personalized ad model unlawful and ordered sweeping user‑data access changes across the EU — this is a binding precedent that raises regulatory, compliance and revenue risk in Europe. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders (including General Counsel Jennifer Newstead and COO Javier Olivan) have sold blocks of shares in recent weeks — repeated insider sales can be perceived negatively by the market even if amounts are small relative to overall holdings. Read More. Read More.

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.