Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 5.7% – Here’s What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded up 5.7% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $660.57 and last traded at $647.63. 21,267,396 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 47% from the average session volume of 14,483,306 shares. The stock had previously closed at $612.96.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Threads ad rollout expands immediate ad-monetization optionality for a 400M+ MAU product, supporting near-term revenue upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors point to attractive valuation after the pullback (multiple firms reiterating buys and high price targets), encouraging value-oriented buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Operational/tech progress: Meta’s AI lab reportedly delivered its first in-house models, a signal that internal AI capability is advancing and could support future product monetization and efficiency gains. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware/metaverse upside: TD Cowen raised its PT and Meta plans to ramp Meta Glasses production, which supports longer-term diversification of revenue streams. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta suspended teen access to its AI characters globally while it builds a teen-specific version — a precautionary move that reduces regulatory/PR risk but could slow feature engagement and short-term monetization from those users. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings (Jan. 28) and especially 2026 CapEx guidance are the primary near-term catalysts — strong revenue/AI updates could lift shares, while higher-than-expected CapEx would likely pressure the stock. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider activity: COO Javier Oliván’s routine share sales continue to be disclosed; amounts are modest relative to his holdings and the company, so impact is limited. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: UK regulator Ofcom opened an investigation into Meta’s responsiveness on WhatsApp data requests, increasing compliance uncertainty in Europe. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: Meta is contesting evidence limits ahead of a New Mexico child-safety trial — unfavorable rulings or negative publicity could weigh on sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pressure: Some firms have trimmed price targets (Stifel cut its PT; UBS trimmed earlier), reflecting sensitivity to guidance and spending — these moves can cap near-term upside if guidance disappoints. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,117.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $880.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $818.57.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $642.15 and its 200-day moving average is $697.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were 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. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $4,190,037.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares in the company, valued at $53,857,980.20. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,632 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,572. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after buying an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Seed Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.9% during the second quarter. Seed Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seascape Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the second quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 5,416 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,998,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.