Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Given New $820.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) had its price objective hoisted by TD Cowen from $810.00 to $820.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the social networking company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $802.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 target price (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $822.96.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $631.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $641.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $702.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $4,190,037.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares in the company, valued at $53,857,980.20. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $1,590,690.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at $5,962,956.64. This represents a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,054 shares of company stock worth $24,799,940. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 768 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,813 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $19,679,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 153 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 70.1% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 105,563 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $69,681,000 after buying an additional 43,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 16,215 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,703,000 after buying an additional 1,386 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — TD Cowen raised its price target on META to $820 and kept a Buy rating, giving investors a near‑term valuation upside narrative amid the recent pullback. Benzinga: TD Cowen price target
• Positive Sentiment: Stronger commercial demand for Ray‑Ban Meta smart glasses — Meta and EssilorLuxottica are reportedly discussing doubling production capacity (10M→20M units, with upside to 30M) this year, signaling product-market fit for AI wearables and potential revenue growth outside advertising. Reuters: doubling Ray‑Ban output
• Positive Sentiment: Executive hire to drive AI strategy — Meta named Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chair to help steer its AI and infrastructure buildout, a governance move investors see as strengthening execution. Reuters: Dina Powell McCormick joins Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic repositioning in Reality Labs — Wedbush views the cuts and resource reallocation as a discipline shift toward consumer wearables (and away from broad metaverse bets), which could improve capital efficiency but delays returns. ProactiveInvestors: Wedbush on Reality Labs cuts
• Neutral Sentiment: Energy/infrastructure play — Meta’s Meta Compute and deals (including the Oklo prepayment) to secure gigawatt‑scale baseload power are a long‑term moat for AI scale but lock in very large capex outlays and long timelines. MarketBeat: Meta energy strategy / Oklo
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs job cuts and restructuring — Reports say Meta will cut ~10–15% of Reality Labs (1,000–1,500 jobs) as it shifts from VR/metaverse projects to AI wearables; this highlights past capital waste and near‑term restructuring costs that weigh on sentiment. Fox Business: Reality Labs cuts
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and execution concerns — Meta continues to plan massive capex (Meta Compute, data centers, nuclear prepayments). Some investors fear the pace/scale of spending and execution risk, and high-profile critics (e.g., Michael Burry commentary) amplify downside pressure. Benzinga: Michael Burry critique
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory noise — Brazil’s antitrust suspension of a WhatsApp policy and Australia account‑removal/teen‑ban issues add jurisdictional regulatory risk that could create headline volatility. TechCrunch: Brazil WhatsApp order

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.