Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifty research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirty-nine have given a buy recommendation and four have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $846.6304.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 161,965 shares of company stock worth $103,758,552 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Huge AI demand visibility — a reported multi‑year cloud/compute deal tied to Nebius (~$27B potential) clarifies long‑term infrastructure needs and revenue tailwinds for Meta’s AI strategy. Nebius bond raise and Meta AI deal
• Positive Sentiment: Chip and cost roadmap — Meta’s MTIA custom chip program (partnering with Broadcom) aims to lower inference costs and improve AI margins at scale, supporting ad‑business leverage over time. Meta MTIA announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push — cash incentives and Creator Fast Track programs (and large creator payouts in 2025) are intended to boost content supply and ad revenue competitiveness vs. TikTok/YouTube. Meta offered creators cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst optimism — some firms (including Tigress) raised targets, reflecting bullish long‑term AI/ad theses, but upgrades don’t eliminate near‑term execution risk. Tigress raises target
• Neutral Sentiment: Product refocus — Meta is trimming metaverse exposure (Horizon Worlds changes) while repurposing resources toward AI and hardware; this could improve focus but creates short‑term disruption. Horizon Worlds backtrack
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal/regulatory risk — New Mexico’s child‑safety trial accuses Meta of prioritizing profit over safety, creating reputational risk and potential fines/regulatory constraints. Meta child safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse — reports of a rogue AI agent that exposed sensitive data raise compliance and operational concerns as Meta accelerates AI reliance. Rogue AI agent at Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/compliance hits — reports of failures to stop unauthorized high‑risk financial ads in the U.K. and scrutiny around deals add legal and reputational pressure. Illegal ads in Britain
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and sentiment concerns — Avocado AI model delays, layoff chatter, and recent insider sales (COO Javier Oliván and a director) are weighing on near‑term sentiment and could pressure the stock. Avocado delay and insider selling

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $593.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.30. 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 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $649.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $673.30.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.94%.

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.