Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Roth Capital Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at Roth Capital from $580.00 to $620.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Roth Capital's price target indicates a potential upside of 3.85% from the stock's current price. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' Q2 2026 earnings at $6.32 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.48 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $8.50 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on META. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Pivotal Research decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.3 %

META stock traded up $24.81 on Thursday, hitting $597.02. 24,702,127 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,463,489. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The business's fifty day moving average is $575.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $603.62.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total value of $502,101.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,488,983.09. This trade represents a 3.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.