Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given “Outperform” Rating at Royal Bank Of Canada

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $810.00 target price on the social networking company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 11.92% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on META. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $754.00 to $849.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Pivotal Research decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $847.46.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 8.2%

Shares of META traded up $55.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $723.73. The company had a trading volume of 29,878,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,230,863. The stock has a market cap of $1.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $646.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $695.85. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.00, for a total transaction of $343,805.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,132 shares in the company, valued at $6,737,780. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 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 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and strong guidance: Meta reported $59.9B revenue and $8.88 EPS, both above estimates, and guided Q1 revenue to $53.5B–$56.5B (well above consensus) — the primary catalyst for the rally. CNBC: Meta beats on top, bottom lines, gives stronger-than-expected forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and price‑target increases: Multiple firms raised targets and ratings after the print (examples include Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Canaccord and others), reinforcing buy-side momentum. The Fly: Deutsche Bank price‑target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Market view that AI spending is paying off for ads: Management argued AI is improving ad monetization and engagement; investors appear comfortable letting Meta fund aggressive AI infrastructure given the top‑line momentum. MarketBeat: Meta soars after‑hours
• Neutral Sentiment: Subscription tests across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp: Meta is experimenting with premium tiers and AI features — a potential long‑term revenue diversifier but unclear near‑term impact. CNET: Meta testing premium subscriptions
• Neutral Sentiment: Large supplier contracts validate data‑center buildout: Multi‑year fiber deal wins (and supplier moves) back Meta’s infrastructure plans — supports execution but underscores capital intensity. Schaeffers: Corning sees boost from Meta deal
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs remains a large drag: The XR unit posted roughly a $6.02B operating loss in Q4, a reminder of ongoing margin pressure from metaverse initiatives. CNBC: Reality Labs loss
• Negative Sentiment: Big increase in AI capex for 2026: Meta guided to $115B–$135B of capital spending, a step‑up that raises near‑term cash needs and margin risk if revenue acceleration stalls. Reuters: CapEx rise
• Negative Sentiment: XR/VR cash burn and restructuring warnings: Reporting that Reality Labs burned ~ $19B recently and still faces heavy losses adds execution and ROI uncertainty for long‑dated bets. TechCrunch: $19B VR burn

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.