KeyCorp Has Lowered Expectations for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price

Posted by Geri Gentry on Aug 1st, 2026

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at KeyCorp from $790.00 to $780.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the social networking company’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 40.11% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $785.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $789.95.

View Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $556.71 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $601.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $622.97. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.23. The company has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 29.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 39,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,979,087 over the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Meta Platforms News

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.