Raymond James Financial Has Lowered Expectations for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Key Points

• Raymond James cut its price target on Meta from $825 to $800 but maintained a strong-buy, implying roughly an 18.99% upside, while the analyst consensus target sits near $820.70 with most firms rating the stock a Buy or Strong Buy.
• Fundamentals: Meta reported an EPS beat ($7.25 vs. $6.74) and 26.2% revenue growth last quarter, trades around $672 (market cap ~$1.69T) and carries a P/E of about 29.7.
• Risks: Company insiders have sold material positions recently (40,115 shares over 90 days) and Meta faces litigation and regulatory headwinds — including a youth‑addiction trial and international/state restrictions — that could pressure sentiment.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by research analysts at Raymond James Financial from $825.00 to $800.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a "strong-buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Raymond James Financial's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.99% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on META. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research set a $718.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $915.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $820.70.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $13.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $672.34. 4,893,018 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,374,440. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29. The business's fifty day moving average price is $642.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $696.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.03 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 88,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,857,980.20. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $1,590,690.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,962,956.64. This trade represents a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,115 shares of company stock worth $24,668,044. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Kooman & Associates boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 544 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 1,984 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/strategy bullishness: A Seeking Alpha piece rates META a "Strong buy" into Q4, citing very high gross margins (above ~82%), TTM operating cash flow north of $100B, and aggressive AI/AR/VR investments (including the Manus deal) that position Meta to lead next‑gen ad and engagement monetization. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade: Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded META from neutral to buy and set a $900 price target, signaling renewed confidence in growth and margin prospects. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns highlighted: Forbes notes Meta has returned roughly $183B to shareholders over the past decade, supporting investor confidence that management will continue capital returns and buybacks. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed earnings setup: Zacks says AI is feeding ad growth momentum ahead of Q4 results, but cautions rising costs and Reality Labs losses could temper guidance. This creates a mixed near‑term earnings risk/reward. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Price‑target moves are mixed: KeyCorp trimmed its PT from $875 to $835 but kept an overweight rating (moderating upside but maintaining conviction); Stifel cut its PT to $785 — these revisions create offsetting analyst signals. Article Title Stifel Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/market context: Nasdaq futures are softer ahead of the Fed decision and big‑tech earnings week, adding broader tech volatility into Meta's stock reaction. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Litigation risk: Meta (with TikTok and YouTube) faces trial on youth addiction claims this week — potential liability, reputational impact and regulatory attention could pressure sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk abroad and at state level: Egypt is moving to restrict children's social‑media use and U.S. state actions (e.g., New Mexico AG) target safety/legal exposure — these developments increase regulatory uncertainty for user engagement and ad targeting policies. Article Title Article Title

About Meta Platforms

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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