Robert W. Baird Boosts Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $830.00

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $815.00 to $830.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the social networking company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 15.84% from the stock’s current price.

META has been the subject of several other reports. Rothschild Redb raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 target price (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $847.98.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $716.50 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $652.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $696.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.29. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.02 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.00, for a total value of $343,805.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 10,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,737,780. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total transaction of $358,602.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,454,330.36. This represents a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,113 shares of company stock worth $24,621,042. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during 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 buying an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $37,902,948,000 after buying an additional 682,768 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,823,375,000 after buying an additional 278,180 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $23,155,393,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat + AI narrative shift: Meta reported stronger‑than‑expected Q4 revenue and EPS and management framed ad strength as early proof that AI investments are improving monetization and engagement — a narrative some analysts now call an AI profit cycle. Meta’s Story Just Flipped — Seeking Alpha
• Positive Sentiment: Strong guidance & analyst upgrades: Q1 revenue guidance topped Street expectations and many firms raised price targets or reiterated buys, supporting the recent rally and giving institutional investors cover to support higher valuations. MarketBeat: Meta Soars After‑Hours
• Neutral Sentiment: Business diversification tests: Meta is piloting premium subscriptions for Instagram/Facebook/WhatsApp and expanding AI features — potential long‑term upside but unclear near‑term revenue impact. CNBC: Premium subscription tests
• Neutral Sentiment: Supply deals validate buildout but signal capital intensity: large supplier agreements (e.g., with Corning) back the AI data‑center plan while confirming heavy multi‑year spending. CNBC: Corning deal
• Negative Sentiment: Massive 2026 CapEx: Management guided to $115B–$135B of capex for 2026 — far above prior levels — raising near‑term cash intensity and margin dilution concerns despite management saying operating income should hold. Reuters: CapEx rise
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs drag: XR/Reality Labs continues to burn cash (multi‑billion losses), creating an ongoing margin headwind and execution risk for non‑ad businesses. TechCrunch: $19B VR burn
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory & reputational headlines: A New Mexico trial alleging platforms exposed minors to exploitation and reports about content‑blocking controversies add legal and reputational risk that can pressure multiple‑quarter sentiment. Reuters: New Mexico trial
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term profit‑taking & headline noise: high short‑term expectations after the rally, occasional pundit criticism (e.g., Jim Cramer) and small insider sales add to volatility and can push the stock down after its run. 247WallSt: Jim Cramer critique

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.