Citizens Jmp Cuts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $770.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target cut by research analysts at Citizens Jmp from $800.00 to $770.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Citizens Jmp’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 43.81% from the stock’s previous close.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $805.32.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 8.6%

NASDAQ:META traded down $50.16 on Thursday, hitting $535.45. The stock had a trading volume of 16,405,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,694,275. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $603.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $624.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 29.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was 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 $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, exceeding the $60.2 billion consensus estimate. Advertising revenue, impressions and average price per ad also showed solid growth, while AI-powered personalization helped drive double-digit increases in Instagram usage. Meta Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts maintained bullish ratings following the selloff. Guggenheim reaffirmed a Buy rating with an $800 target, while Rosenblatt, KeyCorp, Bank of America and Monness Crespi & Hardt retained Buy or Overweight ratings despite reducing their targets. Analyst Price Target Updates
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s partnership with BlackRock to develop a $14 billion, one-gigawatt Texas data-center campus could shift part of its AI infrastructure burden to outside capital while preserving access to computing capacity. Meta is also exploring leasing excess compute to other AI companies, creating a potential new revenue stream. Meta and BlackRock Form AI Data Center Venture
• Neutral Sentiment: Management is positioning AI agents, enterprise services and smart glasses as future monetization opportunities, but investors are seeking clearer evidence that these initiatives will generate returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings were $6.18 per share, well below the roughly $7.19 consensus and down from $7.14 a year earlier. Legal charges of about $2.4 billion and severance costs of approximately $1.2 billion contributed to the miss, although analysts argue underlying margins remained relatively strong. Meta Misses Profit Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Meta plans to spend roughly $130 billion to $145 billion on AI and infrastructure this year. Capital expenditures consumed nearly all of its $31.9 billion in quarterly operating cash flow, causing free cash flow to plunge and intensifying concerns about margin pressure and uncertain AI returns. Meta’s AI Spending and Compute Strategy
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance of $61 billion to $64 billion was below the $63.2 billion consensus midpoint expectations, adding to the market’s concern that spending is rising faster than near-term monetization. Reality Labs also reported a loss exceeding $4.6 billion, while India summoned Meta executives over a briefly restricted post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding a regulatory headline risk.

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.