Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $767.00 to $835.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 29.09% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on META. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,015.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $850.00 price target (up from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

META stock traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $646.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,477,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,800,342. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $604.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $626.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction 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 $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% 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. Insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319 in the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th 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. State Street Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after buying an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,734,628,000 after buying an additional 878,396 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,112,735,000 after buying an additional 310,947 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on Meta to $1,000 from $900 and kept a buy rating, citing improved AI-related prospects. Another bullish note argued Meta’s vertical integration strategy could help it become a compute provider, potentially adding to future earnings and margins. Benzinga report on price target raise Seeking Alpha article on vertical integration
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports highlighted Meta’s expanding AI ambitions, including possible cloud/computing deals such as a rumored large Anthropic contract and BlackRock-led financing for new data centers in Texas. Investors may see these as signs Meta can turn its AI spending into new revenue streams, which could support the stock. Motley Fool article on Meta stock rebound WSJ article on data center financing
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America said Meta is likely to top second-quarter estimates thanks to healthy ad demand and AI-driven improvements, with revenue and EPS forecast above consensus ahead of the July 29 earnings report. That keeps expectations elevated, but it is still a preview rather than a confirmed result. Proactive Investors article on BofA outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Other coverage compared Meta with Pinterest and discussed broader AI and VR strategy, but these pieces were more long-term commentary than immediate stock-moving catalysts. 247WallSt comparison article
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a Tennessee trial over allegations that Instagram was designed to be addictive and contributed to teen mental-health harms. That legal overhang could pressure sentiment if investors worry about fines, restrictions, or wider platform risk. Reuters article on Tennessee trial
• Negative Sentiment: One report said Meta’s AI moderation tools mistakenly banned user accounts on Facebook and Instagram, forcing users to rely on AI again to fix the problem. That reinforces concerns about product reliability and potential reputational risk as Meta leans harder on automation. New York Times article on account bans

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.