Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Expected to Rise, DA Davidson Analyst Says

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at DA Davidson from $825.00 to $850.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price suggests a potential upside of 18.63% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on META. Pivotal Research dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $872.00 price objective (up previously from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $847.98.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of META opened at $716.50 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $652.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $696.11.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $1,590,690.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,962,956.64. The trade was a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,113 shares of company stock valued at $24,621,042. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldstone Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $43,790,000 after buying an additional 5,224 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $130,467,000 after purchasing an additional 38,432 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $155,387,000 after purchasing an additional 20,912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat + AI narrative shift: Meta reported stronger‑than‑expected Q4 revenue and EPS and management framed ad strength as early proof that AI investments are improving monetization and engagement — a narrative some analysts now call an AI profit cycle. Meta’s Story Just Flipped — Seeking Alpha
• Positive Sentiment: Strong guidance & analyst upgrades: Q1 revenue guidance topped Street expectations and many firms raised price targets or reiterated buys, supporting the recent rally and giving institutional investors cover to support higher valuations. MarketBeat: Meta Soars After‑Hours
• Neutral Sentiment: Business diversification tests: Meta is piloting premium subscriptions for Instagram/Facebook/WhatsApp and expanding AI features — potential long‑term upside but unclear near‑term revenue impact. CNBC: Premium subscription tests
• Neutral Sentiment: Supply deals validate buildout but signal capital intensity: large supplier agreements (e.g., with Corning) back the AI data‑center plan while confirming heavy multi‑year spending. CNBC: Corning deal
• Negative Sentiment: Massive 2026 CapEx: Management guided to $115B–$135B of capex for 2026 — far above prior levels — raising near‑term cash intensity and margin dilution concerns despite management saying operating income should hold. Reuters: CapEx rise
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs drag: XR/Reality Labs continues to burn cash (multi‑billion losses), creating an ongoing margin headwind and execution risk for non‑ad businesses. TechCrunch: $19B VR burn
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory & reputational headlines: A New Mexico trial alleging platforms exposed minors to exploitation and reports about content‑blocking controversies add legal and reputational risk that can pressure multiple‑quarter sentiment. Reuters: New Mexico trial
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term profit‑taking & headline noise: high short‑term expectations after the rally, occasional pundit criticism (e.g., Jim Cramer) and small insider sales add to volatility and can push the stock down after its run. 247WallSt: Jim Cramer critique

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.