Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Meta Platforms has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 48 firms, with an average 12-month price target of about $840.60. Recent analyst notes remain mostly positive, though some firms have trimmed targets or stayed neutral.
• Investors are focused on Meta’s AI spending and infrastructure buildout, which supporters say is boosting revenue, ad engagement, and user activity. However, concerns persist that heavy AI investment is pressuring near-term cash flow and weighing on the stock.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, including earnings of $10.44 per share versus $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year. Meta also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, while insiders have recently sold shares.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the forty-eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation, thirty-four have assigned a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $840.5952.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush’s Dan Ives said Meta is being treated like a “bear market” stock despite its central role in the AI buildout, arguing the recent selloff is more about short-term impatience than a broken AI thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary said Meta’s AI push is driving revenue growth, stronger ad engagement, and rising user activity, supporting the case for further upside.
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm’s new AI data-center push and partnerships with Meta and Microsoft reinforce Meta’s role in major AI infrastructure deals, which may support long-term growth expectations. Qualcomm stock jumps on AI data center push, Meta and Microsoft deals
• Positive Sentiment: One article framed Meta as one of the most attractive mega-cap tech names after the 2026 selloff, suggesting the stock could have meaningful recovery potential from current levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly pushing Meta to explore working with prediction-market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi as part of an Arena app aimed at younger users, which could expand engagement but is still early-stage. Mark Zuckerberg Urges Meta to Explore Working With Polymarket and Kalshi
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer-sentiment commentary said Meta continues to keep users on its platforms longer, but investor sentiment remains weighed down by AI spending concerns. Ca$htag$: Is META Winning Over Consumers?
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing fresh legal and reputational pressure after Sarah Wynn-Williams accused the company of surveilling her to silence criticism, adding to headline risk around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports continue to highlight investor concern that Meta’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending is compressing near-term cash flow, which has been a major factor behind the stock’s weakness.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $550.25 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $612.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $630.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $84,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,707,600. The trade was a 1.08% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock valued at $24,115,999. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Bayban raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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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