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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Guggenheim in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $850.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock. Guggenheim‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 31.16% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on META. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $687.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Evercore lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $860.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $763.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $885.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $829.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 7.1%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $49.43 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $648.09. 25,972,520 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,602,420. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $662.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $629.10. 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 company has a market cap of $1.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.38, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $779.82.

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,875,854.26. This trade represents a 34.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 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 $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares in the company, valued at $462,024. This represents a 90.46% 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 a total of 149,906 shares of company stock valued at $102,347,409 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,966,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Group Corp bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Visionary Horizons LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the third quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 47.1% during the third quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 63,885 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,329,000 after buying an additional 20,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the third quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 41,929 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $30,407,000 after buying an additional 1,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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.

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.