Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Up 2% – Should You Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded up 2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $570.80 and last traded at $570.05. 9,656,064 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 16,755,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $559.02.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Settlement eliminates major litigation risk. Meta agreed to pay up to roughly $16.7 billion–$18 billion to settle claims brought by dozens of U.S. states, ending a closely watched federal trial. Analysts and commentators characterized the deal as pragmatic because it avoids the potentially far larger damages sought in court, while leaving Meta’s core advertising business, personalized recommendations and targeted advertising largely intact. Meta reaches $18 billion of settlements over children’s social media addiction
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts see substantial upside and AI-driven growth potential. Rosenblatt raised its META price target to $886 and maintained a “buy” rating. Separately, commentary points to Meta’s improving ad-ranking technology, rising ad impressions and prices, and the possibility of monetizing excess AI-computing capacity. Meta Platforms price target raised at Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed. Benchmark and Needham reaffirmed “hold” ratings, contrasting with Rosenblatt’s bullish stance. The divergence suggests investors remain uncertain about Meta’s valuation, spending plans and the effect of new youth-safety restrictions on engagement. Meta analyst rating updates
• Negative Sentiment: The settlement creates a sizable cash cost and could invite more regulation. Meta must impose two-hour daily limits, overnight blocks, muted notifications and additional safeguards for younger users. Regulators in the U.K., Australia and South Korea are urging Meta to apply similar measures globally, raising the risk of further compliance costs, lawsuits and reduced teen engagement. Meta’s social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment is intensifying margin concerns. Meta projected it could spend as much as $10 billion annually on Anthropic’s AI tools, adding to already aggressive infrastructure commitments. Investors may view the spending as strategically necessary, but it increases near-term capital and operating-cost pressure. Meta projected it could spend $10 billion on Anthropic’s AI

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $763.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $592.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $612.48.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. 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 have sold 34,957 shares of company stock worth $20,442,696 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.4% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,670 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $88,319,000 after buying an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $876,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 625,079 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $352,101,000 after purchasing an additional 29,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.