DA Davidson Increases Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $850.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at DA Davidson from $825.00 to $850.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the social networking company’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 15.35% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $740.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $850.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $847.98.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $68.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $736.88. The stock had a trading volume of 49,479,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,279,410. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $646.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $695.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value of $358,602.40. Following the sale, the director owned 5,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. This represents a 9.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,113 shares of company stock worth $24,621,042. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during 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 period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $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 shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $1,191,175,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and bullish guidance: Meta reported $59.9B revenue and $8.88 EPS, both above estimates, and guided Q1 revenue well above consensus — evidence that ad demand and AI-driven engagement are translating into revenue. CNBC: Meta beats on top, bottom lines, gives stronger-than-expected forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Strong Wall Street reaction: Multiple firms raised price targets and issued buy/outperform calls after the print (Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Canaccord, JPMorgan, etc.), supporting momentum and reinforcing the view that ad recovery + AI monetization justify higher valuations. The Fly: price target raises
• Positive Sentiment: Market acceptance of AI spending: Management’s plan to accelerate AI investment (and investors’ positive reaction) signals confidence that infrastructure spending is starting to lift ad pricing and engagement rather than only drag on margins. MarketBeat: Meta soars after-hours
• Neutral Sentiment: Subscription experiments: Meta is testing premium tiers across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — a potential revenue diversifier long term but with unclear near-term impact on ad revenue. CNET: Meta confirms subscription tests
• Neutral Sentiment: Supply deals validate buildout: Large supplier agreements (e.g., fiber/capacity deals) confirm the scale of the data‑center push — supportive for execution but signals continued capital intensity. CNBC: Corning deal
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs hemorrhaging cash: The XR/VR unit posted an approximately $6.02B Q4 operating loss — a persistent drag that keeps margin and capital-allocation risk front and center. CNBC: Reality Labs loss
• Negative Sentiment: Huge 2026 capex guide: Management flagged $115B–$135B in 2026 capex — a front‑loaded, multi‑year investment that raises near‑term margin and ROI questions despite management saying operating income should hold. Reuters: Capex rise
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Olivan disclosed small share sales (517 shares) — immaterial size but a note some investors track. SEC filing: Olivan sale

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.