Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $750.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price decreased by TD Cowen from $800.00 to $750.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on META. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $865.00 to $766.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $789.95.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 8.0%

META stock opened at $539.03 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $602.23 and its 200 day moving average is $623.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.81% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 29.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 39,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,979,087 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, exceeding Wall Street expectations, while advertising demand, impressions, pricing and AI-powered recommendations remained strong. Instagram time spent also grew by double digits. META’s Q2 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y on Ad Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts retained bullish ratings despite reducing price targets. UBS, Baird, Citi, Truist and other firms still see substantial upside, suggesting the selloff may have improved Meta’s valuation appeal if advertising growth continues. Analyst price-target updates
• Positive Sentiment: Management said AI is improving ad performance, content recommendations and enterprise products, while new applications and potential AI-agent businesses could create additional monetization opportunities. META Q2 Earnings Call Highlights AI Expansion Strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is exploring ways to lease or sell excess computing capacity, including possible enterprise AI opportunities. This could generate revenue from infrastructure investment, but the company must balance external sales with its own model-development needs. Zuckerberg lays out Meta’s AI capacity dilemma
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings were $6.18 per share, well below estimates near $7.2 and down from $7.14 a year earlier. Legal expenses of about $2.4 billion and severance costs of roughly $1.2 billion contributed to the miss, but operating expenses also rose substantially.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta maintained an aggressive AI investment plan, forecasting 2026 capital expenditures of $130 billion to $145 billion. Operating cash flow of $31.9 billion was almost entirely consumed by capital spending, leaving approximately $784 million after capex. Meta Generated $31.9 Billion in Operating Cash Flow Last Quarter
• Negative Sentiment: Future lease obligations, largely tied to AI data centers, rose 53% in three months to $279 billion. Investors are questioning whether advertising growth and future AI services will generate adequate returns on this commitment. Meta’s future AI data center lease obligations
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance of $61 billion to $64 billion was viewed as soft relative to the $63.2 billion consensus, reinforcing concerns that spending and margin pressure may persist. Reality Labs also posted a loss exceeding $4.6 billion.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s weakness contrasted with Microsoft’s strong Azure and Copilot results, which gave investors clearer evidence that AI spending is producing returns. This comparison intensified the market’s skepticism toward Meta’s less-defined AI monetization timeline. Meta tanks nearly 9%, Microsoft jumps 8% as the AI trade splits Big Tech

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.