Meta Platforms' (META) Overweight Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Key Points

• Meta Platforms had its "overweight" rating reaffirmed by Cantor Fitzgerald, with a price target of $920.00, indicating a potential upside of 27.67% from its current stock price.
• Analysts are generally optimistic, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $830.68.
• The company reported Q2 earnings of $7.14 per share, surpassing expectations, and experienced a revenue increase of 21.6% year-over-year.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating restated by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $920.00 price objective on the social networking company's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price objective points to a potential upside of 27.67% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho set a $925.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $720.59 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $748.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $681.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 213,198 shares of company stock valued at $164,232,558 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,587,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.

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