UBS Group Cuts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $715.00

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Aug 2nd, 2026

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) had its price objective lowered by UBS Group from $766.00 to $715.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $785.00 target price (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson reduced 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 report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $789.95.

View Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.3%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $556.71 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $601.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $622.97. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 28.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong. Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while ad impressions, pricing, engagement and AI-powered recommendation tools continued to improve. Advantage+ advertising reportedly reached a $75 billion annualized run rate. Meta: Buy The AI Spending Panic
Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and investment commentators view the selloff as an opportunity, arguing that Meta’s advertising engine can fund its AI investments and that AI is already improving ad performance, personalization and user engagement. Meta also highlighted potential enterprise AI products, personal AI agents and new applications. Buy Meta’s Earnings Drop
Positive Sentiment: Despite reductions, major firms retained bullish ratings and price targets, including UBS at $715, Baird at $750, Cantor Fitzgerald at $680 and Rosenblatt at $883. The targets imply substantial long-term upside if Meta converts AI spending into monetization. Meta Given New Price Target at Baird
Neutral Sentiment: The earnings miss was partly affected by approximately $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.2 billion in severance costs. Excluding these items, supporters argue that underlying profitability was healthier, but reported margins still declined.
Negative Sentiment: Meta reported $6.18 in quarterly EPS, below expectations near $7.19, while free cash flow fell to only $784 million from $31.9 billion in operating cash flow as AI data-center capital expenditures surged. Investors remain unconvinced that the spending will generate adequate returns soon. Tech’s AI Buildout Has Ballooning Price Tag
Negative Sentiment: Future AI-related lease obligations reached $279 billion, increasing concerns about balance-sheet commitments and execution risk. Additional legal and regulatory pressure includes a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that social-media companies harmed minors, plus an Indian police case involving Meta’s India chief over Facebook posts depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta’s AI Splurge Lays Bare Its Compute Conundrum

About Meta Platforms

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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.