Rosenblatt Securities Lowers Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $1,015.00

Key Points

• Rosenblatt Securities cut its price target on Meta from $1,144 to $1,015 but kept a "buy" rating, implying roughly a 65.7% upside from the current price; MarketBeat's consensus target is lower at $840.76 with a "Moderate Buy" consensus.
• Strong quarterly results: Meta reported $8.88 EPS (vs. $8.16 expected) and $59.89B revenue (up 23.8% year-over-year), with a ~30% net margin, supporting expectations for continued monetization strength.
• Muse Spark AI launch and OpenAI's shutdown of Sora sparked a positive market reaction as investors priced in improved AI-driven ad monetization, though analysts caution execution, capability gaps and high AI spending remain downside risks.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by equities researchers at Rosenblatt Securities from $1,144.00 to $1,015.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Rosenblatt Securities' target price suggests a potential upside of 65.74% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, March 27th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.76.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $612.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $632.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $655.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the sale, the director owned 4,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,797,952.54. This trade represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 160,931 shares of company stock worth $102,997,526 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trust Co of the South lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the third quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,159,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse Spark launch: Meta rolled out Muse Spark, a natively multimodal LLM designed for reasoning, tool use and multi-agent orchestration — positioning the company to better compete with Google/OpenAI and to integrate new AI features across apps and devices. Meta debuts the Muse Spark model
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction: Coverage shows shares jumped after the announcement (reports cite intraday gains as investors priced in improved AI prospects and product roadmaps). This buying reflects expectations that stronger AI products will boost ad engagement and monetization. Meta (META) Stock Trades Up
• Positive Sentiment: Competitive win as rivals stumble: OpenAI shut down its Sora short-form video app, removing a direct AI-only competitor to Meta’s Reels and underscoring Meta’s advantage of integrating AI into an existing, ad-monetized feed. OpenAI Shutters Sora
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market tailwinds: A general tech rally (including easing geopolitical tensions) amplified gains in Magnificent Seven names, helping lift META alongside positive sector flows. Tech rally after ceasefire
• Neutral Sentiment: Fundamentals still supportive: Reports highlight strong ad revenue growth and strategic deals (e.g., partnerships that expand payments/commerce), which underpin longer-term monetization hopes even as the company invests heavily in AI. Ad growth & PayPal partnership
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst trimming: Erste Group slightly lowered its FY2027 EPS estimate for Meta (from $34.33 to $34.28) and keeps a Hold — a modest downgrade that signals some analyst caution despite the AI news. (Erste Group report)
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and capability caveats: Coverage notes Muse Spark improves on prior Meta models but still lags rivals on some benchmarks (notably coding performance), so investors should temper expectations until third‑party evaluations and product integrations prove durable. NYT on Muse Spark performance
• Negative Sentiment: Cost, legal and AI-spend concerns persist: Earlier reports about heavy AI spending, potential legal risks and prior product missteps keep downside risks on the table if monetization or efficiency gains don’t follow. MarketBeat on risks

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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