Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Gets Price Target Increase from UBS Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective lifted by analysts at UBS Group from $884.00 to $892.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. UBS Group‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 37.47% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on META. China Renaissance reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Citic Securities lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $718.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $850.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 7.0%

META traded down $48.67 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $648.85. 40,283,069 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,657,748. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $779.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $662.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $629.10. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 27.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total value of $28,510,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,515,624.16. The trade was a 17.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 149,906 shares of company stock worth $102,347,409. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,036,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,230,426,000 after buying an additional 162,909 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after buying an additional 1,815,017 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,429,812 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,964,745,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta reported third-quarter revenue of $64.6 billion, up 26.1% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $7.40 per share, exceeding Wall Street estimates. Advertising growth, higher ad prices and AI-driven improvements in targeting and engagement supported the results. META’s Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Meta said its Muse AI assistant surpassed 10 million users shortly after launch, strengthening the long-term case for AI-related advertising, commerce and subscription revenue. Analysts including JPMorgan, Bank of America and Pivotal Research raised their price targets, maintaining bullish ratings. Meta falls as investors balance Muse growth with rising AI costs
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta announced a new non-voting Class C share structure intended to help finance its AI buildout without reducing Mark Zuckerberg’s voting control. The move could provide funding flexibility, but investors are evaluating potential dilution and governance implications. Meta to issue new class of shares
• Negative Sentiment: Meta raised the lower end of its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to $135 billion, with spending potentially reaching $145 billion. The investment pushed quarterly free cash flow negative, prompting concerns that AI returns may take longer to justify the infrastructure bill. Meta stock sinks as AI spend pushes free cash flow negative
• Negative Sentiment: Credit-default-swap prices for Meta reached a record high, signaling increased concern about balance-sheet and financing risk as the company considers funding its AI expansion. The market reaction also weighed on power-equipment suppliers tied to Meta’s data-center spending. Bond market warning on Meta’s borrowing
• Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in a Cambridge Analytica-related privacy case; the company plans to appeal. Separately, Meta faces an Australian class-action lawsuit alleging that its platforms harm children, adding to regulatory and litigation uncertainty. Meta ordered to pay $25 billion to New Mexico

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.