Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $770.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $765.00 to $770.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 26.88% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on META. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price target (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Erste Group Bank lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Evercore raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.24.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 9.3%

NASDAQ:META traded down $62.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $606.88. The company had a trading volume of 24,478,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,617,179. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $630.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $648.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.36 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 29.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 167,155 shares of company stock worth $107,067,129. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,112,735,000 after acquiring an additional 310,947 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 outperformance — Meta posted a sizeable revenue and EPS beat (revenue ~$56.3B; EPS well above consensus), confirming robust ad momentum and AI monetization that support longer‑term growth. PR Newswire: Meta Reports First Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Creator payments pilot — Meta began offering USDC stablecoin payouts to select creators in Colombia and the Philippines, expanding payment options and cross‑border monetization tools for the creator economy. PYMNTS: Meta Begins Offering Stablecoin Payments to Creators
• Positive Sentiment: Energy/infra moves — Meta announced partnerships (space‑based solar and long‑duration storage) to secure continuous power for AI data centers, addressing a key operational/ESG risk tied to huge compute demand. InsiderMonkey: Meta Pursues Space Solar
• Positive Sentiment: Business AI traction — Meta says its business AI now facilitates ~10 million conversations per week, evidence that AI products are gaining usage and generating monetization opportunities. TechCrunch: Meta business AI usage
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/model tweaks — Some houses nudged FY estimates (small EPS tweaks) and remain split between buy vs. hold as they weigh valuation against the large capex ramp.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling disclosed — COO Javier Oliván sold shares under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan; notable in size but pre‑planned and not unusual for exec plans. SEC: Insider Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Massive CapEx raise — Management lifted 2026 capex guidance sharply to build AI data centers; investors see this as a near‑term cash‑flow/headwinds risk that outweighs the quarter’s beat. Reuters: Meta Lifts CapEx Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Planned bond sale to fund AI — Reports say Meta may raise $20–$25B in investment‑grade bonds to finance its AI expansion, underscoring how the capex program will be funded and adding financing/flexibility concerns. Invezz: Meta eyes up to $25B bond sale
• Negative Sentiment: After‑hours/early selloff — Despite the beat, shares dropped sharply in extended trading as markets punished the higher spend and mixed forward signals. Invezz: Meta stock sinks after earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and costly bets — The EU charged Meta under the Digital Services Act for failing to block under‑13 users (potential fines/compliance costs), and Reality Labs posted another multi‑billion loss; both increase execution and legal risk. Reuters: EU Charges Over Underage Users CNBC: Reality Labs Loss
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst reaction — JPMorgan downgraded META to Neutral and several analysts cut targets after the guidance/capex move, amplifying selling pressure (downgrade reported by market sources).

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.