Meta Platforms (META) – Research Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Updates

A number of firms have modified their ratings and price targets on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) recently:

• 2/11/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Tigress Financial from $645.00 to $935.00. They now have a “strong-buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its “strong-buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Raymond James. They now have a $800.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $725.00.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Scotiabank from $583.00 to $627.00. They now have a “sector perform” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Susquehanna from $675.00 to $800.00. They now have a “positive” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $720.00 to $790.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $685.00 to $752.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $630.00 to $705.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Piper Sandler from $670.00 to $775.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $650.00 to $800.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $700.00 to $800.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wedbush. They now have a $770.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $700.00.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $680.00 to $750.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Mizuho from $675.00 to $750.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $530.00 to $610.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $753.00 to $780.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $736.00 to $786.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at DA Davidson from $700.00 to $800.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America Co. from $710.00 to $765.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $688.00 to $765.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $700.00 to $770.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms was upgraded by analysts at Benchmark Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $820.00 price target on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Pivotal Research from $800.00 to $875.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/29/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $700.00 to $750.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/29/2025 – Meta Platforms had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Benchmark Co..
• 1/27/2025 – Meta Platforms had its “underperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Needham & Company LLC.
• 1/27/2025 – Meta Platforms had its “market outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JMP Securities. They now have a $750.00 price target on the stock.
• 1/27/2025 – Meta Platforms had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Rosenblatt Securities. They now have a $811.00 price target on the stock.
• 1/24/2025 – Meta Platforms was upgraded by analysts at Arete Research to a “hold” rating.
• 1/23/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America Co. from $660.00 to $710.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/22/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target lowered by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $730.00 to $720.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/22/2025 – Meta Platforms had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wedbush. They now have a $700.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $680.00.
• 1/21/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Raymond James from $675.00 to $725.00. They now have a “strong-buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/13/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $600.00 to $660.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/13/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $641.00 to $685.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/10/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $655.00 to $700.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/6/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Wedbush from $640.00 to $680.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 1/6/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from $675.00 to $715.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/3/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Wolfe Research from $670.00 to $730.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 1/2/2025 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at JMP Securities from $660.00 to $750.00. They now have a “market outperform” rating on the stock.
• 12/18/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $660.00 to $725.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 12/17/2024 – Meta Platforms had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $650.00 to $700.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $5.58 on Wednesday, hitting $725.38. 11,979,136 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,655,389. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $631.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $578.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $727.10. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 756,735 shares of company stock valued at $475,285,232 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.