TD Cowen Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Key Points

• TD Cowen raised Meta’s price target from $750 to $865 and maintained a “buy” rating, implying about 14% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $785.90, despite some firms issuing lower or neutral targets.
• Meta shares fell 2.4% to $758.67; its latest quarter showed revenue growth of 28% year over year and a revenue beat, but earnings per share missed estimates. Insiders also sold approximately $80.8 million of stock during the last quarter.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at TD Cowen from $750.00 to $865.00 in a report released on Friday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. TD Cowen's target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.02% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on META. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $580.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $796.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. President Capital upgraded Meta Platforms from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $660.00 to $897.00 in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten 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 an average target price of $785.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of META stock traded down $18.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $758.67. The company had a trading volume of 4,290,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,365,387. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $779.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $613.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $612.10.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. This represents a 34.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 123,333 shares of company stock worth $80,795,845. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Watchman Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 5,091 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Penney Financial LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 399 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 985 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tenzing Financial LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tenzing Financial LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised price targets across the board. CICC lifted its target to $776 and maintained an Outperform rating; Deutsche Bank raised its target to $820 with a Buy rating; and Canaccord Genuity increased its target to $950 while retaining Buy. The revisions reinforce expectations for further upside from AI-related growth. Deutsche Bank Raises Price Target on Meta Platforms
• Positive Sentiment: Muse is strengthening Meta’s consumer AI narrative. Early adoption has reportedly outpaced ChatGPT’s comparable launch, while investors see potential revenue from subscriptions, advertising, commerce referrals and business services. The product’s momentum is helping justify Meta’s significant AI infrastructure spending. Meta's AI Spending Suddenly Makes Sense
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded Muse’s distribution through hardware. The company announced Muse integration with Ray-Ban AI glasses, a camera-free audio-glasses line, the Muse Charm handheld device and $1,299 VR glasses. These products could create new user touchpoints and eventually support non-advertising revenue. Meta's Muse Charm Device Strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is approaching a major valuation milestone. Shares have surged about 36% in September and the company’s market capitalization is near $2 trillion. Momentum remains strong, but the sharp advance leaves the stock more sensitive to profit-taking or disappointing AI adoption data. Meta Stock Surges on Muse AI Boom
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon’s decision to block Muse creates a commerce risk. Amazon reportedly restricted Muse from accessing its marketplace, highlighting potential conflicts as AI agents seek to control online shopping traffic. Meta’s partnerships with Shopify and others may mitigate the setback, but platform access remains uncertain. Amazon and Meta Muse Dispute
• Negative Sentiment: Spending and insider selling remain cautionary signals. Analysts have raised concerns that surging capital expenditures could pressure free cash flow, while insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Privacy concerns surrounding AI glasses and ongoing legal scrutiny also pose longer-term risks.

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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