KeyCorp Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Key Points

• KeyCorp cut its target on Meta from $855 to $760 but kept an overweight rating, implying roughly a 21.5% upside from the prior close.
• Meta beat quarterly estimates with $8.88 EPS vs. $8.16 expected and $59.89B revenue (+23.8% y/y); the stock trades near $625 with a $1.58T market cap and a consensus analyst target of $839.13 (Moderate Buy).
• Mixed sentiment: Meta struck a roughly $21 billion multi‑year CoreWeave deal to secure AI capacity—raising committed spend—while insiders sold about 160,931 shares (~$103M) in the latest quarter, which could weigh on investor sentiment.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by research analysts at KeyCorp from $855.00 to $760.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the social networking company's stock. KeyCorp's target price suggests a potential upside of 21.48% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Pivotal Research lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $872.00 price target (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $839.13.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $13.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $625.64. The company had a trading volume of 4,392,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,852,395. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $632.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $655.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm's revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 160,931 shares of company stock valued at $102,997,526. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Trust Co of the South increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the third quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,159,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse Spark rollout — Meta released Muse Spark, the first major model from its Superintelligence Labs, which analysts and markets interpreted as a step toward monetizing its AI investment and catching up with rivals; that news drove buying interest. Meta debuts the Muse Spark model
• Positive Sentiment: Competitive tailwind from OpenAI setback — OpenAI’s shutdown of Sora removes a short-form video competitor and reinforces Meta’s position in Reels, supporting the ad-revenue thesis. OpenAI Shutters Sora: A Win for Meta Platforms
• Neutral Sentiment: Large CoreWeave agreement secures AI capacity but increases committed spend — Meta agreed to an expanded, multi-year cloud capacity arrangement with CoreWeave worth about $21 billion through 2032, ensuring GPU supply for scale but raising questions about future AI operating and capital costs. Investors are weighing the capacity/security benefit against higher long-term AI spend. CoreWeave signs $21 billion AI cloud deal with Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst view: Rosenblatt trims target but stays bullish — Rosenblatt lowered its price target to $1,015 (still a "buy"), signaling continued conviction in Meta's long-term upside even as near-term expectations were adjusted. Benzinga coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal noise — Meta removed law-firm ads aimed at recruiting plaintiffs after recent trial losses, highlighting ongoing legal exposure that could pressure sentiment and costs. Meta Removes Law-Firm Ads Recruiting Clients to Sue Them
• Negative Sentiment: Minor earnings revision — Erste Group trimmed its FY2027 EPS estimate slightly and maintains a "Hold" rating, a reminder that analyst estimates are being adjusted amid mixed margin and spending signals. MarketBeat analyst note

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

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