Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Has Average Price Target of $791.86 According to Analysts

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifty-seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, forty-five have given a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $796.51.

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Arete Research lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $806.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $728.08, for a total transaction of $688,763.68. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,878 shares in the company, valued at $5,735,814.24. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total value of $28,510,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,515,624.16. The trade was a 17.82% 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 148,222 shares of company stock worth $101,033,627 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 22,186 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,154 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $234,000. Foster Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the third quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 9,568 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,939,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.0% in the third quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 30,194 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $22,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walker Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the third quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $762.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $647.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $622.44. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $779.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a $0.5250 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta introduced Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, frontier AI models designed for complex, multi-step personal and professional tasks. The launch supports the view that Meta is catching up with OpenAI and Anthropic while creating potential subscription and advertising opportunities. Meta Platforms Introduces AI Tools to Fine-Tune Facebook Algorithms
• Positive Sentiment: Third-party app data reportedly showed strong early retention for Meta’s standalone Muse assistant, helping ease concerns about slowing downloads and reinforcing expectations that the company’s AI investments can improve engagement and monetization. Why Meta Stock Is Up Today
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street support strengthened, with Truist assigning a $1,000 price target and KeyCorp and Rosenblatt reaffirming bullish ratings with targets of $900 and $886, respectively. Analysts cited Muse adoption and AI-driven advertising improvements as catalysts. Social Media Stocks Rally as Truist Sets $1,000 Meta Target
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s partnership with Virtuix expanded, with Omni One orders reportedly tripling year over year after becoming available for Meta Quest. The development provides modest support for demand across Meta’s virtual-reality ecosystem. Virtuix Deepens Meta Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Facebook is giving users more control over feed-ranking algorithms. The move may improve user trust and engagement, although greater personalization controls could affect content distribution and ad performance. Facebook Gives Users More Algorithm Control
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain cautious about Meta’s premium valuation and substantial AI spending, with planned capital expenditures reportedly reaching $130 billion to $145 billion. Third-quarter results, scheduled for October 21, will be important for validating AI monetization and revenue guidance. Meta Q3 Preview

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.

Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.

Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.