Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $825.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $800.00 to $825.00 in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the social networking company’s stock.

META has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $872.00 target price (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Rothschild Redb raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Arete Research set a $718.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Five investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $847.98.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.0%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $716.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $652.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $696.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm 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 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,113 shares of company stock worth $24,621,042. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

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.