Meta Platforms' (META) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reiterated its outperform rating on Meta Platforms and kept a $810 price target, implying about 30% upside from the prior close.
• Meta shares were trading down 1.6% around $622.58, but the stock has seen broad analyst support overall, with MarketBeat showing a Moderate Buy consensus and a $840.19 average target.
• Meta’s latest earnings came in well above expectations, with $10.44 EPS versus $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $810.00 price target on the social networking company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price target points to a potential upside of 30.10% from the company's previous close.

META has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ:META opened at $622.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $617.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $636.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% 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 40,890 shares of company stock worth $25,315,558. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,608,445,000 after buying an additional 4,537,076 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th 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. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta was named among the top S&P 500 companies for AI adoption in a new study, reinforcing the view that its AI investments are becoming a competitive advantage. Nvidia, Meta and Schlumberger rank among top companies adopting AI, new study says
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and kept an $835 price target, saying AI monetization and enterprise adoption could improve sentiment around Meta’s spending. Can Meta turn AI capacity into a $1 trillion market opportunity?
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted Meta as a top AI pick and suggested it remains attractive to investors looking for AI-driven upside. 3 Top AI Stocks to Buy in June
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is reportedly developing an AI pendant and broader wearables products, signaling continued hardware experimentation, but the project is still early and unproven. Meta is reportedly developing an AI pendant
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a new group legal action in the U.K. over scam ads on Facebook and Instagram, adding fresh legal and financial risk in a major market. Richardson Hartley Law and Humphries Kerstetter to pursue Meta for role in multi-billion scam ad scandal through group legal action
• Negative Sentiment: European consumer groups also filed Digital Services Act complaints accusing Meta of not doing enough to stop financial scams, which could lead to investigation or penalties. Meta Faces Digital Services Act Scrutiny On Financial Scam Controls
• Negative Sentiment: Meta reportedly plans thousands of additional layoffs, underscoring ongoing restructuring pressure even as it invests heavily in AI. Silicon Valley giant Meta slashes even more jobs as AI boom sparks bloodbath

About Meta Platforms

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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