Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price was up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $672.22 and last traded at $665.9590. Approximately 9,023,412 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 15,520,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $658.69.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Acquisition accelerates Meta’s agent/automation strategy and adds scale — Manus’ agent technology and user base could speed deployment of AI features across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and business products, supporting future monetization. Meta to acquire Chinese startup Manus
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic fit for “agentic” AI push — commentary from analysts and press frames the deal as plugging a capability gap in Meta’s AI stack that could improve product stickiness and ad/productivity monetization. Meta Buys Manus — Barron’s
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street momentum and high price targets — some brokers reaffirmed bullish views (notably a Rosenblatt $1,117 target called out in market coverage), reinforcing optimism that AI investments will drive multi-year upside. Rosenblatt price target coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Big‑tech AI narrative supports sector flows — the Manus deal is being lumped into year‑end momentum for AI leaders; that helps sentiment but also leaves META sensitive to rotation. Big tech momentum article
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and geopolitical risk from Manus’ China roots — reporters and lawmakers flagged potential U.S. scrutiny because Manus was founded by China‑origin entrepreneurs (now Singapore‑based), which could slow integration or invite review. CNBC on Manus acquisition and scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term risks: profit‑taking, insider selling and heavy AI CapEx — recent pullbacks and documented insider sales, plus Meta’s large ongoing AI spending, keep pressure on near‑term margins and make the stock sensitive to quarterly results and guidance. Meta stock slip analysis

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $820.22.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $653.34 and its 200 day moving average is $706.14.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,983,882. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.38, for a total transaction of $342,218.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,238,730.26. This trade represents a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,038 shares of company stock valued at $25,587,621. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Infusive Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the period. Spirepoint Private Client LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the second quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.4% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $43,790,000 after buying an additional 5,224 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $130,467,000 after buying an additional 38,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.0% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $155,387,000 after buying an additional 20,912 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.