Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $830.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective raised by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $730.00 to $830.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. President Capital upgraded Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $660.00 to $897.00 in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $885.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, China Renaissance lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $787.86.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $726.91 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $779.82. The company has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $620.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $614.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 27.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a dividend of $0.5250 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 151,882 shares of company stock worth $103,032,319 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its Muse AI agent to small businesses with integrations including Shopify, QuickBooks, Stripe, Canva, Slack and Dropbox. The move could diversify revenue beyond advertising and create opportunities in subscriptions, transaction fees and enterprise software. Meta expands Muse AI agent for small businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Muse as a potential multibillion-dollar growth catalyst, citing early adoption, integration across Meta’s apps and possible commercial API and subscription revenue. AI tools are also expected to improve advertising engagement and conversions. Analysts align on Meta Muse as a growth catalyst
• Positive Sentiment: Strategists argue Meta could be relatively resilient if AI infrastructure spending slows because it is using AI to enhance an existing advertising business rather than relying solely on hardware sales. A reported $27 billion AI-capacity agreement with Nebius also underscores continued infrastructure investment. Nvidia AI capex and Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transactions reduced his holdings, but scheduled sales generally provide a weaker signal than discretionary insider trading. SEC insider ownership filing
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI launched Dots, an always-on AI agent positioned against Muse, raising concerns that Meta’s newest growth story could face powerful competition from OpenAI, Google and Apple. OpenAI follows Meta into personal agents
• Negative Sentiment: Reports alleging that Muse accessed private messages without permission have created privacy and reputational concerns, although Meta disputes the claims. Investors are also monitoring heavy AI and data-center spending, a recent quarterly EPS miss, and questions over whether the investment will generate sufficient returns. Meta disputes Muse privacy claim
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Mark Zuckerberg separately sold approximately $21.4 million of stock under a Rule 10b5-1 plan. While scheduled, the sale may add to short-term investor caution following the stock’s sharp rally. Mark Zuckerberg stock sale

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.

Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.

Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.