Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $830.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price boosted by Robert W. Baird from $815.00 to $830.00 in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on META. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $754.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $847.98.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $716.50 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.29. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $652.06 and its 200-day moving average is $696.01.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 currently 8.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after acquiring an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $1,191,175,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.