Phillip Securities Upgrades Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) to “Strong-Buy”

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) was upgraded by investment analysts at Phillip Securities to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on META. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $587.94 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $600.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $622.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 28.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,823,376.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 37,770 shares of company stock valued at $23,034,051 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,734,628,000 after buying an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,112,735,000 after buying an additional 310,947 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, exceeding expectations, while AI-powered recommendations and ad tools are improving user engagement and monetization. Some analysts and investors view the post-earnings selloff as an attractive entry point because the core advertising business remains strong. META Q2 Deep Dive: AI Investment Drives Engagement as Margins Face Pressure
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentaries argue that Meta’s large AI investment could support longer-term growth rather than represent wasteful spending. Optimistic analysts point to the company’s scale, advertising cash flow and potential for AI to strengthen recommendations, ad targeting and new products. 28% Revenue Growth Ignored: Why Panic-Selling Meta Stock Over Infrastructure Spend Is a Mistake
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is scheduled to participate in White House discussions with other leading AI companies about voluntary safety testing for advanced models following concerns about rogue AI agents. The meeting could improve regulatory relations, although it also highlights growing oversight risks for Meta’s AI initiatives. Meta, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI to Meet With Trump White House
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about the scale and duration of Meta’s AI infrastructure commitments. Meta and other Big Tech companies have roughly $1.09 trillion in future payments under data-center leases, increasing fixed obligations before the spending generates returns. Meta also missed quarterly EPS expectations and issued revenue guidance below consensus, raising concerns about margin pressure and execution. AI Data-Centre Race Builds $1 Trillion Lease Burden for Big Tech

About Meta Platforms

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.