Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Earns Buy Rating from TD Cowen

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at TD Cowen in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $820.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price points to a potential upside of 19.09% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on META. DA Davidson increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $1,144.00 to $1,015.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $885.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $837.72.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $688.55 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $627.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $651.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 165,079 shares of company stock worth $105,624,755 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded AI partnerships and infrastructure deals boost revenue/AI roadmap visibility — Meta deepened and extended its Broadcom AI‑chip relationship (scaling capacity through 2029), supporting faster AI feature rollout and higher ad/engagement monetization potential. Meta Platforms Taps AVGO for AI Expansion: Buy or Hold META Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Large capacity commitments to CoreWeave underline sizable, long‑dated AI infrastructure spending that supports Meta’s compute roadmap and revenue mix. This signals durable demand for Meta’s AI stack and gives investors visibility on AI spend scale. CoreWeave’s April Shockwave — Meta, Anthropic, Jane Street All Say Yes
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: TD Cowen reiterated a buy and assigned a high $820 price target, which can drive positive sentiment and flows into the stock. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives Buy Rating from TD Cowen
• Neutral Sentiment: Hardware pricing update: Meta will raise U.S. prices for Quest VR headsets to offset rising component costs — a margin/profitability mix impact that’s ambiguous for top‑line growth. Meta to raise Quest VR headset prices in US on rising component costs
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre‑arranged 10b5‑1 plan (disclosed SEC filing) — routine but noted by traders as liquidity/positioning data. SEC ownership filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Reputation/regulatory watch: Reports of AI‑generated fake influencer accounts across platforms (TikTok/Instagram/Facebook) add moderation and policy risk, but near‑term financial impact is uncertain. Hundreds of Fake Pro-Trump Avatars Emerge on Social Media
• Negative Sentiment: Major layoffs planned: Reuters reports Meta will cut roughly 10% of its global workforce (~8,000 jobs) in an initial wave targeted for May 20, with additional rounds later in 2026. That reduces near‑term operating costs but raises execution, morale and product roadmap risk; markets often react variably to large cuts. Exclusive: Meta targets May 20 for first wave of layoffs; additional cuts later in 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure in Europe: The European Commission is considering interim measures to force WhatsApp policy rollbacks that could limit how third‑party AI services access WhatsApp Business — a potential hit to monetization plans in a key market. European Action On WhatsApp AI Access Tests Meta’s Monetization Plans

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.