Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Climb 3.4% – Time to Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares shot up 3.4% on Monday. The stock traded as high as $752.24 and last traded at $742.96. 24,728,420 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 41% from the average session volume of 17,489,211 shares. The stock had previously closed at $718.67.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta unveiled Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, its first frontier AI models. The company says they match leading models from OpenAI and Anthropic on public benchmarks and are designed for workplace applications and complex, multi-step tasks. Meta releases Muse Wonder AI models to challenge Anthropic and OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: The new models are expected to make Meta’s Muse personal assistant more capable, potentially improving user retention and helping the company compete more effectively in the rapidly expanding AI-assistant market. Third-party retention data also reportedly supported the bullish reaction. Meta Says New AI Model Is State-of-the-Art, Will Make Muse Agent Smarter
• Positive Sentiment: Meta plans to offer advanced Muse access through subscription tiers priced at $20 and $100 per month, providing a potential direct monetization channel beyond advertising. Meta debuts Muse Wonder AI model
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s large Louisiana data-center project is attracting thousands of workers and underscores the company’s commitment to AI infrastructure, supporting its long-term computing ambitions. Meta AI data center construction in Louisiana
• Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald lowered its price target from $860 to $840 but maintained an Overweight rating, still indicating expected upside from current levels.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to weigh the substantial cost of Meta’s AI buildout, including potential capital-expenditure increases and workforce reductions. Rising spending could pressure near-term earnings even if Muse ultimately produces stronger growth. Prediction: Meta Platforms Stock Will Drop After Earnings

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on META shares. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 24th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $865.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective (down from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $791.47.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.4%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $640.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $620.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a dividend of $0.5250 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $728.08, for a total value of $688,763.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,735,814.24. This represents a 10.72% 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 this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total transaction of $21,359,386.56. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 148,222 shares of company stock valued at $101,033,627. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after buying an additional 3,510,123 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,200,469 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,013,948,000 after buying an additional 1,046,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,230,426,000 after buying an additional 162,909 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.

Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.

Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.