Zacks Research Upgrades Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• Zacks Research has upgraded Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating increased confidence in the company's stock performance.
• The company reported impressive quarterly earnings with $7.14 EPS, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing a 21.6% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Meta's stock has a current consensus rating of "Buy" with a target price of approximately $829.66, reflecting positive sentiment among analysts.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $870.00 to $825.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $829.66.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $731.93 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 1.53 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $744.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $686.70.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $707.85, for a total transaction of $367,374.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,381,832.90. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.34, for a total transaction of $368,796.78. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 8,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,414,353.28. The trade was a 5.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 213,146 shares of company stock worth $164,196,453 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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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