Rothschild & Co Redburn Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Key Points

• Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on Meta Platforms from $900 to $1,000 and kept a buy rating, implying about 54.8% upside from the prior close.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive: multiple analysts have buy ratings on META, and the stock’s consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average target price of $832.83.
• Meta’s latest quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year, while ongoing interest in its AI and cloud infrastructure strategy continues to support the bullish outlook.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by Rothschild & Co Redburn from $900.00 to $1,000.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn's price objective points to a potential upside of 54.83% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on META. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,015.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. 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 research report on Monday, April 20th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $832.83.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $645.85 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $604.11 and a 200-day moving average of $626.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,948 shares of company stock worth $23,184,319. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $876,000. Diversified Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $55,487,000 after buying an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Consolidated Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is gaining attention for potentially turning unused GPU capacity and new data centers into a cloud/compute business, which could create a fresh revenue stream and improve margins over time. Meta Platforms: Vertical Integration Is The Play - Reiterating Strong Buy (Earnings Preview)
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic could become a multi-billion-dollar Meta customer are fueling hopes that Meta can monetize its AI infrastructure investment faster than Wall Street expected. Meta Stock's Rebound Made Mark Zuckerberg the World's Fifth-Richest Person at $222 Billion
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America said Meta’s upcoming earnings could beat estimates thanks to healthy ad demand and AI-driven performance improvements, reinforcing optimism ahead of results. Meta Platforms expected to top earnings estimates as ad growth remains healthy, says BofA
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s financing of new Meta data centers in Texas signals external support for the company’s capital buildout and AI expansion plans. BlackRock Leads $12 Billion Financing for New Meta Data Centers in Texas
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Meta’s AI strategy, compute-provider ambitions, and “multiple paths” to benefit from the AI boom, but these are mostly thesis pieces rather than new hard catalysts. Zuckerberg Is Quietly Turning Meta Into A Compute Provider Ahead Of Q2 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces a Tennessee trial over allegations that Instagram was designed to be addictive and harmed teen mental health, adding legal risk and potential reputational pressure. Meta faces Tennessee trial over allegations Instagram was designed to be addictive
• Negative Sentiment: Michael Burry’s warning about “hidden debt” at big tech could weigh on sentiment toward Meta and other megacap tech names, even though it is a broad sector concern rather than Meta-specific news. ‘Big Short' Michael Burry sounds alarm on big tech's $1.6 trillion hidden debt

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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