Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Rating Upgraded by Mizuho

Key Points

• Meta Platforms' stock was upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by Mizuho, reflecting growing confidence among analysts in the company's future performance.
• Quarterly earnings reported by Meta showed $7.14 earnings per share, surpassing expectations and demonstrating a revenue increase of 21.6% year-over-year.
• Institutional ownership of Meta Platforms stands at approximately 79.91%, indicating strong backing from major investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Mizuho to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on META. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.02.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2%

META stock opened at $734.38 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $752.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $672.78. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 213,146 shares of company stock valued at $164,183,241 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $37,902,948,000 after purchasing an additional 682,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $23,155,393,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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