Meta Platforms’ (META) Neutral Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush restated their neutral rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $595.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $610.68 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $594.83 and a 200 day moving average of $609.21. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $790.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 28.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total transaction of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,671.08. The trade was a 14.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,024. The trade was 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,987 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,995. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 56,957.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,878,304,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,058,030,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,875,012,642 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,152,075,000. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 723.1% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,957,946,000 after purchasing an additional 7,732,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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. Hedge funds and other 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 unveiled Muse Spark 1.3, an upgraded AI model that AI chief Alexandr Wang says delivers the company’s biggest performance improvement yet and is comparable with offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI. The announcement strengthened expectations that Meta can compete more effectively in generative AI and monetize its large user base. Meta Rises 4% as Muse Spark 1.3 Claims Parity With Anthropic and OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts said Meta’s settlement of major social-media litigation could remove a legal overhang and accelerate the launch of new AI products. Some investors view the settlement as manageable relative to Meta’s scale and believe teen-usage restrictions may have limited revenue impact. Meta settlement could clear the way for new AI product launches, Morgan Stanley says
• Positive Sentiment: Investment commentary highlighted Meta as one of the leading “hyperscalers” supporting the AI ecosystem, with strong revenue growth, user engagement and long-term AI monetization potential. Hyperscalers are the backbone of AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush reaffirmed its Neutral rating, signaling that the AI opportunity is balanced by valuation, execution and spending concerns. Wedbush Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta reportedly agreed to pay as much as $17 billion over 10 years and make major changes to Instagram and Facebook for teen users. The settlement may reduce legal uncertainty, but its cost and potential limits on engagement create financial and operating risks. Meta Is Making These Major Changes for Teen Users After $17 Billion Settlement
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary warned that AI infrastructure spending could approach $145 billion, compressing free cash flow even as revenue grows. Investors also remain concerned about Meta’s dependence on successful AI execution to justify a recovery toward its prior high. Meta Stock Has a New AI Catalyst
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is paying users to share how they use its latest AI model, raising privacy and reputational concerns that could complicate adoption. Separately, the company disabled cameras on some AI glasses after detecting tampering with recording lights. Meta is paying to peek at how you use their latest AI model

About Meta Platforms

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.