Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target Raised to $930.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price upped by Canaccord Genuity Group from $900.00 to $930.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $885.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Benchmark lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research set a $718.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $847.98.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $716.50 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $652.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $696.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.29.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.02 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This represents a 82.88% 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 ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $6,212,506,000 after purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,191,175,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

More 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.