Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on META. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $830.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $915.00 to $850.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 target price (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $648.35 on Friday. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $738.28 and a 200-day moving average of $696.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 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 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.97, for a total value of $333,391.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,697,760.59. This trade represents a 5.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $749.57, for a total value of $387,527.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,965,078.06. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 198,335 shares of company stock worth $153,047,009. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. 1776 Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 137.2% during the first quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC now owns 1,167 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 73.1% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 4,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,681,000 after buying an additional 1,964 shares during the period. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,887 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,699,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is 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.