Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $800.00 Price Target at Wolfe Research

Key Points

• Wolfe Research cut its price target on Meta from $850 to $800 but kept an "outperform" rating, implying roughly a 27.3% upside from the current price; MarketBeat's average analyst target is $838.04 with a "Moderate Buy" consensus.
• Meta posted strong quarterly results—$8.88 EPS vs. $8.16 expected and revenue of $59.89B—while the stock trades around $628 with a market cap near $1.59T and a 12‑month high of $796.25.
• Key catalysts include new AI products (Muse Spark) and a long‑term CoreWeave cloud deal (~$21B), but legal and regulatory risks remain; insiders sold about $103M of stock last quarter while institutional investors own roughly 79.9% of the shares.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Wolfe Research from $850.00 to $800.00 in a report released on Friday. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the social networking company's stock. Wolfe Research's target price points to a potential upside of 27.31% from the company's current price.

META has been the subject of a number of other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Arete Research reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $838.04.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $628.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.74, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $630.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $655.68.

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total value of $560,581.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,335 shares in the company, valued at $8,072,742.30. The trade was a 6.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,952.54. The trade was a 11.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 160,931 shares of company stock valued at $102,997,526 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse Spark launch signals a product inflection (multimodal reasoning, tool use, shopping mode) that investors view as a catalyst for ad & commerce monetization. TechCrunch: Meta debuts the Muse Spark model
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded its long-term AI cloud agreement with CoreWeave (≈$21B through 2032), ensuring capacity for large-scale model training/deployment — a practical enabler of future revenue. Reuters: CoreWeave signs $21 billion AI cloud deal
• Positive Sentiment: Product partnerships and commerce integrations (one‑tap PayPal purchases on Facebook/Instagram, shopping mode) create clearer monetization routes for AI features. TipRanks: PayPal deal with Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and outlets highlight large near‑term AI spending (Zacks reports a $135B ramp) — supports growth but increases capital intensity and execution risk. Yahoo/Zacks: AI spending ramp
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms updated targets/ratings (some trimmed targets but kept Buy/Overweight), keeping upside expectations but showing cautious calibration. Proactive Investors: Bank of America keeps Buy
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing litigation over social‑media practices remains an overhang; Meta pulled ads recruiting plaintiffs — a sign of legal exposure that could weigh on sentiment and costs. Reuters: Meta pulls ads recruiting plaintiffs
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage notes that legal risks and regulatory fines (EU scrutiny cited) could temper a longer-term recovery despite AI momentum. WSJ: Meta banks on AI amid lawsuits

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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