Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Earns “Buy” Rating from Canaccord Genuity Group

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $900.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 38.81% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $915.00 to $850.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $1,086.00 to $1,117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $648.35 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $738.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $696.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $749.57, for a total transaction of $387,527.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,965,078.06. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.97, for a total value of $333,391.05. Following the sale, the director owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,697,760.59. The trade was a 5.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 198,335 shares of company stock valued at $153,047,009. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,119,937,000 after acquiring an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,212,506,000 after buying an additional 8,405,558 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at about $2,990,544,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.