Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives “Buy” Rating from Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities restated their buy rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $1,117.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 price target (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $880.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $820.22.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $665.96 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.42, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $652.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $706.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $365,610.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $1,590,690.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,962,956.64. The trade was a 21.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,269,739. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after acquiring an additional 8,405,558 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $1,191,175,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta agreed to acquire Manus, a Singapore-based agentic AI startup (reported ~ $2B). Investors view the deal as a direct bolt-on for Meta’s agent/automation strategy, accelerating product integration across Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp and adding millions of paying users. Meta to acquire Chinese startup Manus to boost advanced AI features
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains constructive: multiple buy ratings and rising price targets (e.g., Rosenblatt reaffirmed buy with a $1,117 PT), reinforcing confidence that Meta’s heavy AI spending could pay off long term. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Debate over AI capex continues — investors accept higher near-term spending for models/data centers, but that capex remains a watch item for margins and free cash flow. Coverage and options commentary highlight both opportunity and short-term volatility. Buy Stock in the Mag 7 hypsercalers — AI spending debate
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Oliván and Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead reported sales of ~517 and ~519 shares respectively in late December — the disclosures add near-term headline pressure even though sizes are small relative to holdings. Olivan SEC filing Newstead SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: the U.S. Virgin Islands sued Meta, alleging the company profited from scam ads and failed to protect children — litigation could create regulatory and reputational pressure. Meta is sued by US Virgin Islands over ads for scams, dangers to children
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/regulatory scrutiny: Manus’s founders’ China ties have already drawn attention in Washington — that could slow integrations or trigger extra review, increasing execution risk. Meta snaps up AI startup Manus for $2B, drawing scrutiny over Chinese roots

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.