Meta Platforms’ (META) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Bank of America restated their buy rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $810.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $780.12.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.5%

META opened at $777.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $613.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $612.10. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $779.82. The company has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.5250 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. This represents a 90.46% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 123,333 shares of company stock valued at $80,795,845. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $22,152,075,000. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its position in Meta Platforms by 723.1% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,957,946,000 after acquiring an additional 7,732,446 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $2,948,486,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,608,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537,076 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is strengthening Meta’s AI growth narrative. Muse reportedly reached the top of Apple’s U.S. free-app rankings and recorded approximately 642,000 U.S. daily active users during its first 12 days—outpacing ChatGPT’s early adoption at a comparable stage. Analysts see potential revenue from subscriptions, advertising, commerce and business services. Meta unveils Muse Charm handheld device as AI agent’s user base grows
• Positive Sentiment: Meta unveiled a broader AI hardware ecosystem. The company announced the Muse Charm handheld device for a planned December launch, camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses and $1,299 Meta VR Glasses. Investors view these products as potential distribution channels for Muse and evidence that Meta is moving beyond advertising. Mark Zuckerberg debuts Meta VR Glasses and Muse Charm
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price targets moved higher. JPMorgan raised its target to $920, Tigress Financial to $995, Loop Capital to $955, and Citizens JMP to $885. Several firms cited Muse’s potential to become a major consumer AI platform and a new monetization engine. Meta stock rises as analysts raise price targets
• Positive Sentiment: Agentic commerce could expand Meta’s revenue sources. Shopify, Instacart and other commerce partners are helping Muse facilitate transactions, potentially allowing Meta to earn fees on purchases rather than relying solely on ad impressions. Amazon blocked Meta’s AI shopping agent
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data is inconclusive. One report described a large increase in short interest but also listed total short interest at zero shares, indicating a likely data inconsistency rather than a meaningful change in bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning the cost of Meta’s AI push. Capital spending is projected to approach $145 billion, while reports point to sharply lower free cash flow. The stock’s strong recent rally also raises the risk of profit-taking and a valuation reset if monetization takes longer than expected. Meta surpassed Wall Street’s price target
• Negative Sentiment: Competition and privacy concerns remain. Amazon blocked Muse from accessing its marketplace, while backlash over camera-equipped glasses and broader AI privacy issues could slow adoption or increase regulatory scrutiny. Several Meta insiders also sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company’s principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.