KeyCorp Reaffirms "Overweight" Rating for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• KeyCorp reaffirmed its “overweight” rating on Meta Platforms and maintained a $900 price target, implying approximately 17.2% upside; analysts overall assign the stock a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with a $796.51 target.
• Meta shares rose 3.3% to $767.68, near their 12-month high. The company reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion, though quarterly EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus estimate.
• Investor sentiment was supported by Meta’s launch of its Muse Wonder AI models and reported early user retention comparable to ChatGPT, while the company tests subscription tiers of up to $100 per month.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at KeyCorp in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $900.00 target price on the social networking company's stock. KeyCorp's price target would indicate a potential upside of 17.24% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on META. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $600.00 price target (down from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $795.00 to $750.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. CICC Research lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $773.00 to $700.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, New Street Research lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $796.51.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.3%

Meta Platforms stock traded up $24.72 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $767.68. The stock had a trading volume of 7,906,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,428,000. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $779.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $644.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $621.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 27.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $728.08, for a total transaction of $688,763.68. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,878 shares in the company, valued at $5,735,814.24. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 148,222 shares of company stock worth $101,033,627 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $32,000. Horizons Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $33,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Schuylkill Financial LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta introduced Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, its first “frontier” AI models, claiming performance comparable with leading offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic. The models are intended to improve Meta’s AI assistant and support complex, multistep tasks. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Third-party app data reportedly showed Muse’s early retention rates rivaling ChatGPT, easing concerns about user adoption and helping drive the stock higher. Meta is also testing a monetization model with $20 and $100 monthly subscription tiers. Why Meta Stock Is Up Today
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains constructive: KeyCorp reaffirmed an overweight rating with a $900 target, while Rosenblatt reiterated buy with an $886 target. Truist also believes Meta may have further upside following the Muse announcement. Barron's Meta Stock Analysis

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 operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.

Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.

Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.