Meta Platforms’ (META) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Guggenheim

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Guggenheim in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $850.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock. Guggenheim‘s target price points to a potential upside of 29.11% from the stock’s previous close.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. HSBC cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $865.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $823.47.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $39.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $658.36. 18,290,675 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,566,229. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.19. 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 has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $779.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $662.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $629.10.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%. The firm had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 27.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total transaction of $28,510,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,515,624.16. The trade was a 17.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the company’s 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 149,906 shares of company stock valued at $102,347,409 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,841,811,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased 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 worth $12,036,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 162,909 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,784,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,429,812 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,964,745,000 after purchasing an additional 404,948 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly performance: Meta reported adjusted earnings of $7.40 per share versus the $6.54 consensus, while revenue rose 26.1% year over year to $64.6 billion, exceeding estimates. Advertising growth and AI-enhanced ad targeting remained key strengths. Meta Q3 2026 earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: AI adoption is gaining traction: Meta said its Muse AI assistant surpassed 10 million users, while AI advertising tools reportedly improved conversions, click-through rates, and ad pricing. This supports the case that AI is already strengthening Meta’s core advertising business. Meta Muse surpasses 10 million users
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly bullish: JPMorgan, Bank of America, KeyCorp, Pivotal Research, Susquehanna, and Guggenheim raised or maintained positive price targets, citing Meta’s advertising momentum and AI opportunity. Analyst views on Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: New share class: Meta plans to issue nonvoting Class C shares to help finance its AI expansion without reducing Mark Zuckerberg’s voting control. The structure may provide funding flexibility, but investors are assessing potential dilution and governance implications. Meta new share class
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending is overwhelming the earnings beat: Meta raised the lower end of its 2026 capital-expenditure outlook to $135 billion, with spending potentially reaching $145 billion. Investors are concerned that high data-center, chip, and compute costs are reducing cash generation; Meta reportedly experienced its first operating cash-flow shortfall since its IPO. Meta AI spending and earnings reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Significant legal exposure: A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion over alleged privacy violations tied to Cambridge Analytica. Meta plans to appeal, but the ruling adds to a separate $9.9 billion legal charge related to teen mental-health litigation and raises concerns about recurring liabilities. Meta New Mexico privacy penalty
• Negative Sentiment: Risk sentiment has deteriorated: Meta’s credit-risk indicator reached a record high after the results, while Reality Labs is expected to remain deeply unprofitable and new AI competitors are intensifying pressure on Muse.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.