Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 1.4% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares rose 1.4% to $671.58 on Wednesday with volume slightly below average; Meta posted a strong quarter (revenue +23.8%, EPS $8.88 beat) and trades with a market cap around $1.7 trillion and a P/E near 28.6.
• Meta struck a multi‑year deal with Broadcom to secure capacity for custom AI chips through 2029, bolstering its in‑house AI compute plans, while multiple analysts have raised price targets and Wall Street sentiment is broadly bullish (average target ≈ $837.72).
• But regulatory and legal headwinds persist: EU regulators intend to order reinstatement of rival AI assistants' access to WhatsApp after Meta imposed fees, and an Italian court allowed a class action over Facebook data scraping.

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) rose 1.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $678.50 and last traded at $671.58. Approximately 14,870,319 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 7% from the average daily volume of 15,987,323 shares. The stock had previously closed at $662.49.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded multi-year partnership with Broadcom commits capacity to Meta’s custom AI chips and networking for Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) rollout through 2029 — a major step toward in‑house AI compute and lower supplier risk. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley names META its top Big Tech pick into earnings with a Buy and elevated price target, adding leverage to near‑term investor demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary and earnings-history pieces highlight Meta’s strong beat record and setup to again top estimates, supporting expectations for continued upside into Q1 results. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is reorganizing Reality Labs hardware to “adapt and execute faster,” potentially accelerating XR/AR product timelines but also signaling internal change that may take time to show results. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is building an internal AI replica of Mark Zuckerberg to interact with employees — a high-visibility internal AI project that showcases capability but has limited near-term revenue impact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate governance update: announced board changes could affect investor perception but are routine ahead of strategic transitions. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators intend to order Meta to reinstate rival AI assistants’ access to WhatsApp after Meta imposed an access fee — an antitrust directive that could force reversals or limit Monetization strategy on WhatsApp in Europe. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure: an Italian court allowed a class action over Facebook data scraping, renewing regulatory/legal risk that can pressure sentiment and add costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some firms cut targets or issued cautious near‑term forecasts (e.g., price-target reductions, bearish notes), which could cap upside if broader market momentum cools. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,144.00 to $1,015.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 target price (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $837.72.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $626.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $651.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.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 previous year, the company posted $8.02 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 160,414 shares of company stock worth $102,659,925 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position 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 valued at $69,502,379,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,112,735,000 after acquiring an additional 310,947 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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