Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives Neutral Rating from Wedbush

Key Points

• Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating on Meta Platforms and maintained a $671 price target, implying about 1.5% downside from the prior close.
• Other analysts remain mostly positive on the stock overall, with several recent upgrades and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $830.45.
• Meta’s latest quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion, even as investors watch upcoming earnings and AI spending closely.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $671.00 target price on the social networking company's stock. Wedbush's price target indicates a potential downside of 1.51% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James Financial upgraded Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $830.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $681.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.25. 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 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $601.49 and a 200-day moving average of $626.86.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 3,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in 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 buying an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $26,112,735,000 after purchasing an additional 310,947 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is being praised for strong AI and advertising fundamentals, with bulls arguing that its massive user base and “AI economy” position support continued earnings power. Why I Won’t Stop Buying Meta Before September
• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to be viewed as a key beneficiary of AI buildout, with reports pointing to its custom-chip efforts and large-scale computing expansion as signs of long-term strategic strength. How Meta Platforms (META) Is Strengthening Its AI Infrastructure With Custom Chips and Massive Computing Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly tied to growing demand for AI data-center capacity, including chatter that it may have been in advanced discussions for CleanSpark’s Sandersville site, reinforcing expectations for heavy infrastructure spending. Reference article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta will report second-quarter 2026 results on July 29, and investors are likely waiting for that update to confirm whether ad growth and AI spending are translating into sustained earnings and cash flow. Meta to Announce Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing legal and reputational overhang from lawsuits alleging it used AI-driven tools to target employees on leave during layoffs, which could create headline risk even if the financial impact is limited. Meta used AI to target workers with medical conditions for layoffs, former employees' lawsuit claims

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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