Meta Platforms’ (META) Hold Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their hold rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $578.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $592.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $611.61. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.14 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. This trade 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,957 shares of company stock worth $20,442,696. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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: The settlement limits litigation risk by resolving claims from a broad coalition of states without an admission of liability. Analysts view the payment as manageable relative to Meta’s revenue and cash generation, while the company avoids potentially disruptive court-ordered changes to products such as Reels, Stories and its recommendation systems. Meta’s social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising engine continues to benefit from improved ad-ranking technology and growing advertiser use of artificial intelligence to create campaigns, supporting demand even as the company spends heavily on AI infrastructure. Ca$htag$: Meta’s AI Bet Not Showing Returns, Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, pointing to substantial potential upside from current levels. The stock’s valuation also remains below that of many large technology peers, strengthening the bargain argument for some investors. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: The new teen safeguards—including time limits, muted notifications and stronger parental controls—could become a regulatory template for TikTok, YouTube, Snap and international markets. This creates industrywide compliance costs, but may also give Meta greater legal clarity. Meta settlement puts social media industry on notice
• Negative Sentiment: Investors still face execution and financial risks: age-verification technology may be unreliable, critics say the protections do not address teen mental-health concerns, and regulators in the U.K., South Korea and elsewhere may demand similar measures. Restrictions could eventually reduce teen engagement and advertising opportunities. Meta’s child-safety deal and age verification
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s substantial AI capital spending has not yet produced a proportionate revenue payoff, while an executive overseeing India and Southeast Asia is leaving for OpenAI. Those developments add to concerns about returns on investment and management stability. Meta executive leaves for OpenAI

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.