Truist Financial Cuts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $770.00

Key Points

• Truist Financial lowered Meta’s price target from $840 to $770 while maintaining a “buy” rating, implying roughly 44% upside from the reported share price. Analysts overall maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average target of $799.18.
• Meta shares fell 8.8% to $533.86 after second-quarter EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus, despite revenue rising 28% year over year to $60.8 billion.
• Investor concerns center on Meta’s aggressive AI investment plans, including projected 2026 capital spending of $130 billion to $145 billion, while the company has yet to demonstrate sufficient returns from that spending.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at Truist Financial from $840.00 to $770.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the social networking company's stock. Truist Financial's price target suggests a potential upside of 44.23% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $799.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 8.8%

META traded down $51.75 on Thursday, hitting $533.86. The company had a trading volume of 22,015,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,737,664. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $603.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $624.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 29.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This trade represents a 11.74% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,146,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta reported revenue of $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year and above Wall Street expectations. Advertising trends remained strong, with ad revenue growth, higher impressions and improved pricing; AI-driven recommendations also helped increase time spent on Instagram. Meta Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts maintained favorable ratings despite lowering price targets. Citizens JMP, Cantor Fitzgerald, Rosenblatt Securities, KeyCorp, Bank of America and Monness Crespi & Hardt still rated the stock market outperform, overweight or buy, with targets ranging from $680 to $883. Analyst Price Target Updates
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish commentators argue Meta’s advertising business can fund its AI investments, while potential leasing of excess computing capacity and expansion into enterprise AI could create additional revenue streams. Meta Potentially Leasing AI Compute
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is advancing a $14 billion data-center project with BlackRock and is considering how to balance selling computing capacity with reserving it for internal AI models. The strategy could improve returns, but investors want clearer evidence of monetization. Meta’s AI Compute Conundrum
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter EPS was $6.18, below the roughly $7.19 consensus and down from $7.14 a year earlier. Legal and severance charges contributed to the miss, while Reality Labs continued to lose more than $4.6 billion. Meta Misses Profit Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Meta plans approximately $130 billion to $145 billion of 2026 capital spending, with third-quarter revenue guidance of $61 billion to $64 billion below the $63.2 billion analyst estimate. The resulting concern is that AI spending is consuming nearly all operating cash flow without yet demonstrating sufficient returns. Meta and Microsoft Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street’s broad price-target reductions indicate lower near-term expectations, even though most firms remain bullish. Investors are contrasting Meta’s spending-heavy AI strategy with Microsoft’s clearer evidence that AI investments are generating growth. Why Investors Prefer Microsoft’s AI Spending

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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