Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives Outperform Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $810.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $841.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $611.91 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $629.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $648.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 38.83%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 29.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 167,155 shares of company stock valued at $107,067,129 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings & ad momentum — Meta beat Q1 revenue and EPS expectations (revenue ~$56.3B; EPS well above consensus), showing robust ad demand and early AI monetization that supports long-term revenue growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: AI product traction — Meta says its Business AI now handles ~10 million conversations per week, evidence that AI features are being adopted and could drive new ad/enterprise revenue streams. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: New monetization moves — Pilot to pay creators in USDC and partnerships to secure energy for data centers signal diversification of payments and longer-term infrastructure planning. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling disclosed — COO Javier Oliván sold shares under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan; typical disclosure but watched by investors for signal. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Massive capex raise — Meta raised 2026 capital expenditure guidance sharply (now ~$125B–$145B), triggering concerns about near-term free cash flow, funding needs and the payback timeline on multiyear AI infrastructure spending. Investors pitched the stock down on this news. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction vs peers — Investors rewarded Alphabet’s AI strategy but punished Meta for the scale and funding model of its AI spend (no cloud cushion), widening the gap in market confidence. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Funding & financing signals — Reports that Meta is exploring a $20–$25B investment-grade bond sale to fund AI expansion add to investor worry about higher leverage and dilution of near-term cash returns. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Cost cuts + job risk — Management told staff that layoffs are tied to capex priorities and did not rule out further cuts, underscoring reallocation toward AI at the expense of labor and short-term execution risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal exposure — EU Digital Services Act charges over under‑13 users and a New Mexico AG standoff on age verification raise the possibility of fines, restrictions or costly compliance measures. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Loss-making bets & M&A headwinds — Reality Labs reported another multi‑billion operating loss and Meta faces pushback/unwinding of deals (Manus acquisition), highlighting high-cost bets with uncertain returns. Read More. Read More.

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.