Meta Platforms' (META) "Buy" Rating Reiterated at Rosenblatt Securities

Key Points

• Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "Buy" rating on Meta Platforms and set a $1,015 price target, which implies about 59% upside from the current price.
• Meta’s latest earnings were strong, with EPS of $10.44 versus the $6.67 consensus estimate and revenue of $56.31 billion, topping expectations as well.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $840.19, even as some executives recently sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by research analysts at Rosenblatt Securities in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $1,015.00 target price on the social networking company's stock. Rosenblatt Securities' price target indicates a potential upside of 59.25% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Pivotal Research decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3%

Meta Platforms stock traded up $2.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $637.36. The stock had a trading volume of 5,545,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,637,800. The company has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.16, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The business's 50 day moving average price is $617.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $636.82. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. The company's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 29.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 95,471 shares of company stock valued at $60,616,955 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,112,735,000 after acquiring an additional 310,947 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched global subscription tiers for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and its AI products, giving users and businesses paid options that could create a new recurring revenue stream. Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions, with more to come, including AI plans
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is also testing paid AI subscription plans, which supports the company’s push to monetize its Meta AI tools more directly. Meta to start testing AI subscription services, with cheapest plan at $7.99 a month
• Positive Sentiment: Reports also highlighted strong momentum in Meta’s ad business, with AI improvements reportedly boosting engagement and ad clicks, reinforcing the core business even as the company expands into subscriptions. META Rides on Solid Momentum in Ad Business: A Sign of More Upside?
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentary pieces compared Meta with Alphabet and discussed valuation, but these were mostly framing articles rather than new company-specific catalysts. Meta vs. Alphabet: Which Stock Is The Better Buy Today
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Meta’s appeal in the Vermont Instagram addiction lawsuit, allowing a legal challenge over teen safety and addictive design claims to move forward. US Supreme Court won't hear Meta's challenge to Vermont social media addiction lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also faced renewed attention on workforce cuts and shareholder pressure around content moderation and online safety, which could keep regulatory and reputational risks in focus. Meta cuts nearly 1,400 jobs in Washington state, 20% of local workforce, in sweeping AI revamp

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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