KeyCorp Cuts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $835.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price lowered by KeyCorp from $875.00 to $835.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on META. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $825.00 price target (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $822.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $668.73 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $646.63 and a 200 day moving average of $695.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.28%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 40,113 shares of company stock worth $24,621,042 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,191,175,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results materially beat expectations: revenue roughly $59.9B and EPS of $8.88, plus first‑quarter revenue guidance above consensus ($53.5B–$56.5B). Strong ad momentum and user metrics support the core business. CNBC: Meta beats on top, bottom lines, gives stronger-than-expected forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street reaction includes fresh bullish calls and upgrades ahead of/after the print, reflecting confidence in ad recovery and AI-driven monetization. Evercore reiterates outperform
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is testing premium subscription tiers across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to diversify revenue and add AI features — a potential long‑term positive but unclear near‑term impact. CNBC: Meta to test premium subscription plans
• Neutral Sentiment: Large supplier deals (e.g., up to $6B with Corning for fiber‑optic cable) validate Meta’s AI data‑center buildout but also signal sustained capital intensity. CNBC: Corning deal
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs continues to be a heavy drag: an operating loss of about $6.02B in Q4 and management disclosing multi‑billion‑dollar losses tied to XR investments. That amplifies margin risk. CNBC: Reality Labs loss
• Negative Sentiment: Meta signaled a dramatic increase in AI capex for 2026 (management cited a $115B–$135B buildout range), a front‑loaded spending plan that raises questions about near‑term returns and margin dilution. Reuters: Capex rise
• Negative Sentiment: Earlier TechCrunch reporting shows Reality Labs burned roughly $19B in recent periods and layoffs in that unit — a reminder that XR investment remains costly and uncertain. TechCrunch: $19B VR burn
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares (small amount relative to his holdings) — a minor negative signal that some investors will note. SEC filing

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.