Argus Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at Argus in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $800.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock. Argus’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 15.66% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on META. Guggenheim upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective (up previously from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $848.50.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $691.70 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $655.04 and a 200 day moving average of $695.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.00, for a total transaction of $343,805.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,737,780. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total value of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,876,738.02. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 39,077 shares of company stock worth $23,955,958 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of the South grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the third 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 during the period. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has been upgrading Meta and lifting price targets after the company’s strong Q4 print and exceptionally strong Q1 revenue guide, supporting upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages reiterated/raised ratings — examples include Cantor Fitzgerald bumping its target to $860 and Barclays keeping an Overweight — reinforcing the buy-side view that fundamentals and ad recovery justify higher multiples. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/tech headlines around AI capex are creating mixed market reactions: Meta’s AI investments and infrastructure plans underpin growth but also increase near-term spending volatility; that ambiguity is tempering momentum. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is locking in off-grid power for hyperscale data needs (reported prepayment/agreements with SMR developers), which secures energy for AI workloads but implies long-dated infrastructure commitments. This is strategic but capital-intensive. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentators warn that AI capex and Reality Labs spending are rising quickly; several notes caution that mounting expenses could compress margins if revenue acceleration slows. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: India’s top court questioned WhatsApp’s data-sharing with Meta entities and warned a ban could be reimposed — a tangible legal/regulatory headwind in a major market. 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.