Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Raised to “Buy” at Erste Group Bank

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) was upgraded by research analysts at Erste Group Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $600.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $601.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $627.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $84,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,707,600. This trade represents a 1.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,513 shares of company stock valued at $24,419,874. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Bayban grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 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: Several articles highlighted Meta’s expanding AI and cloud ambitions, including a potential move into the “neocloud” business by renting out excess computing capacity. Supporters argue this could open a new revenue stream and turn heavy AI spending into a long-term advantage.
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary also pointed to Meta’s strong core business, with recent revenue growth and high operating margins reinforcing the case that the company can fund large AI investments while still producing substantial cash flow.
• Neutral Sentiment: One report noted a director sold 500 shares under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan. Because the sale was scheduled in advance, it is unlikely to signal a meaningful change in insider sentiment.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta disclosed that four U.S. states are seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties in an upcoming August youth-safety trial over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were designed to be addictive for young users and that the company misled the public about safety. The eye-popping figure raises legal risk and reputational concerns.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports said India ordered Meta to remove child abuse-related content and ads from Instagram, adding to regulatory pressure and underscoring ongoing moderation and safety concerns across key markets.

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.