Royal Bank Of Canada Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued on Thursday, September 24th, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $770.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 5.93% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $795.00 to $750.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. KeyCorp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $787.86.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of META stock opened at $726.91 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $779.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $620.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $614.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business’s revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 27.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total value of $28,510,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares in the company, valued at $131,515,624.16. The trade was a 17.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.42, for a total transaction of $709,897.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 8,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,621,706.08. This trade represents a 9.68% 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 have sold a total of 151,882 shares of company stock worth $103,032,319 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during 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. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $34,734,628,000 after purchasing an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $22,152,075,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: An analyst upgrade helped support the stock, adding to investor confidence after Meta’s strong September rally. Meta Platforms Stock Jumps Following Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly seeking billions of dollars in tax credits related to AI data-center costs. If successful, the credits could reduce the effective cost of its massive infrastructure investment and support future cash flow. Meta Claims Tax Credits for AI Data Center Costs
• Positive Sentiment: Investors continue to view Meta’s Muse personal AI agent as a potential growth engine beyond advertising. The company is expanding Muse to small businesses with integrations for Shopify, Dropbox and Slack, while analysts see opportunities for subscription, commerce and enterprise-AI revenue. Meta Expands Muse to Small Businesses
• Positive Sentiment: A reported $27 billion AI-capacity agreement with Nebius and Meta’s broader data-center spending reinforce expectations that the company is securing the computing resources needed to scale AI products. Nebius Signs AI Capacity Deal With Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s COO Javier Olivan reported multiple stock sales under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transactions reduce his holdings but are less concerning because they were scheduled in advance. SEC Insider Trading Filing
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI’s launch of Dots is intensifying competition with Muse in personal and enterprise AI. Concerns about monetization, heavy AI capital spending and falling free cash flow contributed to recent selling pressure. OpenAI Launches Dots to Compete With Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Reports questioning whether Muse accessed private messages without permission, along with scrutiny of Meta’s use of AI data-center tax breaks, create regulatory and reputational risks. Meta Disputes Muse Privacy Claim

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.

Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.

Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.