Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Cut to $775.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $825.00 to $775.00 in a research report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price target (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Four equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.54.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.0%

META opened at $536.38 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $642.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $664.52. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,952.54. This represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 161,448 shares of company stock valued at $103,333,788. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $322,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and other firms are calling Meta a tactical buying opportunity and reiterating Buy/top-pick views, arguing the pullback has created a discounted entry given Meta’s fundamentals and AI exposure. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies also highlights that regulatory scrutiny is a persistent theme but not necessarily a crippling near-term catalyst, framing current legal headlines as a potential buying opportunity for longer-term investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta has begun testing a paid Instagram subscription (“Instagram Plus”) in select markets — a potential new ARPU/revenue stream if expanded, but currently a limited pilot with uncertain near-term revenue impact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is sharing learnings from its Meta Lab stores with wearables/retail partners — a strategic move to accelerate Reality Labs retail presence and partner adoption, but with gradual monetization potential. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s El Paso data‑center project has grown to a ~$10B, 1‑gigawatt complex — evidence of big infrastructure buildout to support AI workloads; bullish for long‑term capacity but highlights larger capex commitments. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent court losses and ongoing regulatory/legal scrutiny remain material headline risk — coverage warns these rulings could constrain AI research practices and raise liability exposure, increasing near‑term uncertainty. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to debate Meta’s heavy capex (large multi‑year AI/Reality Labs spending). Deeper analyses flag the risk of near‑term negative free cash flow and pressure on margins despite long‑term optionality. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its price target (from $825 to $775) even while keeping an overweight rating — a mixed signal that narrows upside expectations versus earlier forecasts. Article Title

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.