Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives Buy Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $910.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on META. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 target price (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $802.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $821.55.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 5.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $647.63 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $641.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $697.57. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,857,980.20. This represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 40,632 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,572 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta will roll out ads on Threads globally next week, expanding a monetization channel on a platform with 400M+ monthly users and improving the ad‑growth narrative. Meta to begin rolling out Threads ads globally
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Jefferies reiterated a Buy and a $910 PT and TD Cowen lifted its target to $820 while reporting Meta will double production of Meta Glasses — signals of continued analyst conviction and product investment upside. Meta pullback creates upside opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new AI lab has delivered its first internal models, per the CTO — tangible progress on AI development that supports the company’s long‑term AI narrative and could assuage some investor concerns about the ROI of heavy AI spending. Meta’s new AI team has delivered first key models
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat preview flags that the upcoming Q4 results will be driven as much by Meta’s 2026 CapEx guidance and expense outlook as by revenue/EPS — a clear catalyst that could swing the stock depending on how aggressive spending guidance is. META Q4 Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces an approaching New Mexico child‑safety trial; company lawyers are trying to limit evidence — a legal overhang that adds regulatory and reputational risk. Meta seeks to limit evidence in child safety case
• Negative Sentiment: Some analyst moves and investor actions are mixed-to-negative: UBS trimmed its price target and Meta was reported trading down after that downgrade; a director sold 580 shares — small signals but they can amplify near‑term volatility. UBS lowers Meta price target

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.