Jefferies Financial Group Raises Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $875.00

Key Points

• Jefferies raised Meta’s price target to $875 from $710 and maintained a “buy” rating, implying roughly 18% upside from the stock’s reported price. Analysts overall rate Meta a “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus target of $789.63.
• Meta reported strong revenue growth of 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, though quarterly EPS of $6.18 missed estimates of $7.19.
• Insiders sold approximately $51.2 million of Meta shares over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own nearly 80% of the stock.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $710.00 to $875.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price points to a potential upside of 18.05% from the stock's current price.

META has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $789.63.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $608.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $610.09. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $785.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 27.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the completion of the sale, 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 through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Schuylkill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining traction: Muse reportedly surpassed ChatGPT, Grok and Claude in U.S. iOS rankings, with approximately 730,000 downloads in its first several days. Estimates also indicate that its first 12-day mobile launch outpaced ChatGPT’s early performance, strengthening expectations that Meta can monetize AI across its large user base. Meta's Muse personal AI agent tops ChatGPT, Grok and Claude for post-launch downloads
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support added momentum: Wells Fargo raised its Meta price target to $796 from $640 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing recent AI model launches and early Muse adoption. Investor attention is also building ahead of Meta Connect, with options activity increasing as traders anticipate further product announcements. Meta stock jumps 9% today: here's why
• Positive Sentiment: Potential platform and commerce opportunity: Shopify plans to let Muse complete purchases at participating stores, while Stripe and other services could help turn Muse into a developer platform and new transaction-revenue channel. Shopify to Use Meta's Muse for Agentic Checkout
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure investment supports the longer-term thesis: Meta’s planned Alberta data center and large-scale subsea network underscore its commitment to AI capacity, although these projects require substantial capital spending. Meta data center boosts Alberta appeal for hyperscalers
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s agreement with plastics-recycling startup MacroCycle may help fund development of MacroCycle’s first commercial plant, but the announcement appears unlikely to materially affect Meta’s near-term earnings or valuation. Meta deal will help plastics recycling startup MacroCycle build its first factory
• Negative Sentiment: Risks could limit follow-through: Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on its website over security, privacy and unauthorized-agent concerns, highlighting the regulatory and platform-access challenges facing agentic commerce. In addition, Zacks noted that recent earnings-estimate revisions do not currently support continued strength. Amazon blocks Meta's Muse AI assistant

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company's principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.

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