Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Upgraded at Rothschild Redb

Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

META has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $740.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $880.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $822.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $668.73 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $646.63 and a 200 day moving average of $695.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,876,738.02. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.00, for a total value of $343,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,737,780. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 40,113 shares of company stock worth $24,621,042 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Davis Rea LTD. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Davis Rea LTD. now owns 37,465 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,248 shares in the last quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 7,235 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,776,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,093 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,382,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 7,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens & Northern Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 8,780 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,796,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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: Q4 results materially beat expectations: revenue roughly $59.9B and EPS of $8.88, plus first‑quarter revenue guidance above consensus ($53.5B–$56.5B). Strong ad momentum and user metrics support the core business. CNBC: Meta beats on top, bottom lines, gives stronger-than-expected forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street reaction includes fresh bullish calls and upgrades ahead of/after the print, reflecting confidence in ad recovery and AI-driven monetization. Evercore reiterates outperform
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is testing premium subscription tiers across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to diversify revenue and add AI features — a potential long‑term positive but unclear near‑term impact. CNBC: Meta to test premium subscription plans
• Neutral Sentiment: Large supplier deals (e.g., up to $6B with Corning for fiber‑optic cable) validate Meta’s AI data‑center buildout but also signal sustained capital intensity. CNBC: Corning deal
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs continues to be a heavy drag: an operating loss of about $6.02B in Q4 and management disclosing multi‑billion‑dollar losses tied to XR investments. That amplifies margin risk. CNBC: Reality Labs loss
• Negative Sentiment: Meta signaled a dramatic increase in AI capex for 2026 (management cited a $115B–$135B buildout range), a front‑loaded spending plan that raises questions about near‑term returns and margin dilution. Reuters: Capex rise
• Negative Sentiment: Earlier TechCrunch reporting shows Reality Labs burned roughly $19B in recent periods and layoffs in that unit — a reminder that XR investment remains costly and uncertain. TechCrunch: $19B VR burn
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares (small amount relative to his holdings) — a minor negative signal that some investors will note. SEC filing

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.