Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 1.4% Higher – Should You Buy?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) rose 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $556.85 and last traded at $550.25. Approximately 18,394,320 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 13% from the average session volume of 16,322,039 shares. The stock had previously closed at $542.87.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush’s Dan Ives said Meta is being treated like a “bear market” stock despite its central role in the AI buildout, arguing the recent selloff is more about short-term impatience than a broken AI thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary said Meta’s AI push is driving revenue growth, stronger ad engagement, and rising user activity, supporting the case for further upside.
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm’s new AI data-center push and partnerships with Meta and Microsoft reinforce Meta’s role in major AI infrastructure deals, which may support long-term growth expectations. Qualcomm stock jumps on AI data center push, Meta and Microsoft deals
• Positive Sentiment: One article framed Meta as one of the most attractive mega-cap tech names after the 2026 selloff, suggesting the stock could have meaningful recovery potential from current levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly pushing Meta to explore working with prediction-market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi as part of an Arena app aimed at younger users, which could expand engagement but is still early-stage. Mark Zuckerberg Urges Meta to Explore Working With Polymarket and Kalshi
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer-sentiment commentary said Meta continues to keep users on its platforms longer, but investor sentiment remains weighed down by AI spending concerns. Ca$htag$: Is META Winning Over Consumers?
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing fresh legal and reputational pressure after Sarah Wynn-Williams accused the company of surveilling her to silence criticism, adding to headline risk around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports continue to highlight investor concern that Meta’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending is compressing near-term cash flow, which has been a major factor behind the stock’s weakness.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Susquehanna raised Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Benchmark began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wedbush raised Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $612.28 and its 200 day moving average is $630.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Bayban raised its position in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in 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.