Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research has downgraded Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment regarding the company's stock.
• Despite the downgrade, several brokerages including Sanford C. Bernstein and Loop Capital have raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, signaling continued optimism among some analysts.
• Meta Platforms reported a strong quarterly performance with an EPS of $7.14, surpassing estimates and indicating significant year-over-year revenue growth of 21.6%.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' Q1 2026 earnings at $6.42 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.78 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.68 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $7.84 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $27.72 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $7.05 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $7.39 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $30.98 EPS.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $0.4450 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $755.2350. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,255,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,154,599. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $656.98.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, 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 sold a total of 313,803 shares of company stock valued at $235,276,424 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,155,393,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,212,506,000 after buying an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,990,544,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.