Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives "Buy" Rating from Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on Meta Platforms and set an $810 price target, implying approximately 9.28% upside from the reported share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average target of $789.63, although several firms recently reduced their price targets.
• Meta’s latest quarter showed 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion, but EPS of $6.18 fell short of the $7.19 consensus estimate. Insiders sold more than $51 million of stock during the quarter.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by research analysts at Bank of America in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $810.00 price target on the social networking company's stock. Bank of America's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.28% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on META. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $785.00 price objective (down from $800.00) 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 given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $789.63.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $608.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $610.09. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $785.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick 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 analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $675.23, for a total value of $13,504,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 224,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,599,938.68. This trade represents a 8.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020 over the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Schuylkill Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting 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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