Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as Overweight by KeyCorp

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at KeyCorp in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $900.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 22.01% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on META. CICC Research lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $773.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $945.00 price objective (down from $995.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Roth Capital lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $800.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of META stock traded down $24.83 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $737.67. 8,081,169 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,464,984. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $779.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $647.53 and its 200-day moving average is $622.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. 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, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was 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. This represents a 17.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 148,222 shares of company stock worth $101,033,627 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake 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 boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,841,811,000 after buying an additional 3,510,123 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,200,469 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,013,948,000 after buying an additional 1,046,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,230,426,000 after buying an additional 162,909 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse Wonder strengthens Meta’s AI narrative. Meta’s new Muse Wonder model scored 83.2% on the DualEntry Accounting AI Benchmark, tying for second among 57 models and ranking ahead of OpenAI and Google models in the test. The result supports Meta’s claim that it has narrowed the gap with leading AI competitors. Meta Muse Wonder accounting benchmark
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their expectations. Guggenheim increased its Meta price target to $850 from $700, while KeyCorp and Rosenblatt reiterated bullish ratings with targets of $900 and $886, respectively. These revisions reflect optimism about AI-powered advertising, Muse adoption, and long-term earnings growth. Guggenheim raises Meta price target
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s distribution remains a major competitive advantage. Commentary highlights the potential for Meta to deploy agentic AI across billions of daily users, giving its models a faster path to scale and monetization than standalone AI providers. Meta consumer-scale agentic AI
• Positive Sentiment: Quest ecosystem momentum provides a smaller catalyst. Virtuix said Omni One orders rose approximately threefold after launching for Meta Quest, while the companies expanded their partnership through official reseller status and new hardware bundles. Virtuix expands Meta Quest partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-quarter earnings are the next major test. Meta is scheduled to report results after the market close on October 21. Investors will focus on advertising growth, Muse usage and monetization, and management’s plans for elevated AI infrastructure spending. Meta third-quarter 2026 earnings announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and valuation concerns are weighing on the stock. META recently approached its 52-week high after a sharp advance, leaving investors more sensitive to any evidence that AI spending, competition, or slowing assistant downloads could limit near-term returns. The company’s prior quarterly EPS miss and substantial planned AI investment add to execution concerns.
• Negative Sentiment: Advertising policy changes could create uncertainty. Meta is blocking TikTok advertising on Facebook and Instagram in seven countries. While this may support Meta’s competitive position, the immediate impact on ad revenue and advertiser relationships is unclear. Meta blocks TikTok ads

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.