Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Buy (B) Rating for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed its "buy (B)" rating for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) amidst positive sentiment from multiple research firms increasing target prices for the stock.
• Meta's quarterly earnings significantly surpassed expectations, with a reported $7.14 EPS, compared to a consensus estimate of $5.75, and a revenue of $47.52 billion.
• Insiders of Meta Platforms recently sold a total of 213,663 shares worth over $164 million, highlighting notable transactions from CFO Susan J. Li and other executives.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reissued by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on META. Truist Financial set a $880.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $830.61.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7%

META opened at $717.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The firm's fifty day moving average is $753.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $677.44. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 213,663 shares of company stock worth $164,574,107 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First County Bank CT lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.4% in the third quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 2,010 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,476,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 4,504 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,308,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Osprey Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 23.5% in the third quarter. Osprey Private Wealth LLC now owns 20,073 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $14,741,000 after purchasing an additional 3,815 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 953 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Meta Platforms

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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