Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Keeps “Buy” Rating at Guggenheim

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at Guggenheim in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $850.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock. Guggenheim‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 31.00% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $895.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $945.00 price target (down from $995.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, CICC Research dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $773.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 7.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $48.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $648.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 40,463,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,684,744. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $662.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $629.10. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $779.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.19. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 27.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $707.20, for a total value of $669,011.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 5,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,233,299.20. This trade represents a 13.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 184,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,515,624.16. This trade 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 149,906 shares of company stock worth $102,347,409. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $4,957,946,000 after purchasing an additional 7,732,446 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,948,486,000. State Street Corp grew its position 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 worth $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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: Strong Q3 operating performance: Meta reported $64.6 billion in revenue, up 26.1% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $7.40 per share, exceeding Wall Street expectations. Advertising remained resilient, with higher ad prices and AI improvements supporting engagement and conversions. Meta Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Muse gains traction: Meta said its AI assistant Muse surpassed 10 million users, raising hopes for future consumer, advertising and enterprise monetization. Several analysts responded by raising their price targets, including UBS, Citi, Mizuho, JPMorgan, Bank of America and Pivotal Research. Meta says Muse has over 10M users
• Neutral Sentiment: New stock structure: Meta created non-voting Class C shares and proposed a stock split. The structure could help finance AI investments while preserving Mark Zuckerberg’s voting control, but it also introduces potential dilution and reinforces governance concerns. Meta to issue new class of shares
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending is consuming cash: Meta raised the low end of its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to $135 billion, with spending potentially reaching $145 billion. Free cash flow turned negative as data-center and infrastructure investment surged, prompting concerns that future returns may not justify the enormous bill.
• Negative Sentiment: Credit and financing risk increased: Meta’s five-year credit-default-swap costs reached a record, while investors questioned whether the company will need additional debt or equity to fund its AI buildout. The broader technology sector also weakened as markets reassessed AI valuations and financing requirements. Meta’s credit risk indicator jumps
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal overhang: A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion in a Cambridge Analytica-related privacy case. Meta plans to appeal, but the judgment adds substantial potential liability to ongoing regulatory and litigation risks. Meta ordered to pay $25 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability concerns remain: A large legal charge, rising infrastructure costs and continuing Reality Labs losses pressured margins. Investors are also weighing competition from Anthropic and other AI-agent providers, as well as uncertainty surrounding Zuckerberg’s compensation and California tax arrangements.

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’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.