Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Research Coverage Started at Wedbush

Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $671.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial raised Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings cut Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of META opened at $646.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $603.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $627.00. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,503 shares of company stock valued at $24,241,859. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $86,454,000 after buying an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly in early talks to lease computing power to Anthropic in a potential deal worth up to $10 billion. Investors view that as a possible new revenue stream that would help Meta monetize its AI infrastructure and validate demand for its computing capacity. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also unveiled its newest AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, and the company is reportedly considering a broader cloud push. Together, those moves reinforce the idea that Meta can turn heavy AI spending into products and services that generate returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s earnings outlook, with Erste Group raising its FY2027 EPS estimate and maintaining a Buy rating. That adds to the bullish case heading into the next earnings report. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A federal judge declined to block Meta from laying off workers who filed an AI discrimination lawsuit. The ruling removes an immediate legal obstacle, but the underlying claims over alleged bias in AI-driven job cuts still create headline risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing scrutiny from employees over AI-assisted layoffs, with allegations that its tools discriminated against protected groups. That could keep legal and reputational pressure on the stock. Article Title

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.