Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading 2.5% Higher

April 24, 2026

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report)’s share price traded up 2.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $680.67 and last traded at $675.5020. 13,238,733 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 15,594,101 shares. The stock had previously closed at $659.15.

More Meta Platforms News

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

Positive Sentiment: Signed a multiyear, multibillion-dollar deal to deploy tens of millions of AWS Graviton5 cores — secures large, efficient compute capacity for agentic AI workloads and signals scale economics for Meta’s AI push. Meta strikes deal with Amazon’s cloud unit to use its CPU chips
Positive Sentiment: Ramping creator tools and new engagement features (Edits app surge, Live Chats on Threads) support higher user engagement and incremental ad/creator monetization upside. META Builds Advanced Tools for Creators: Can They Drive Revenues?
Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional support remains strong—recent analyst notes and buy ratings (high price targets cited) reinforce upbeat consensus on AI-driven ad monetization and margin improvement. This Is the Impact of AI on Meta Platforms (META) Core Advertising Business
Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling by COO Javier Oliván disclosed under a 10b5-1 plan—worth noting but executed under a prearranged program, so limited signal on company fundamentals. Javier Olivan insider trades
Neutral Sentiment: Broader market tailwinds for tech (Nasdaq strength) are supporting META alongside sector momentum, though geopolitical risks (Strait of Hormuz/Iran tensions) remain a background risk. Nasdaq Composite Rises on Cautious Optimism on Tech Tailwinds but Iran Tensions Loom
Negative Sentiment: Meta will cut roughly 10% of its workforce (~8,000 roles) and freeze hiring for ~6,000 open positions to offset heavy AI infrastructure spend—cost-savings could boost margins long term but creates near-term execution/PR risk and potential product disruptions. Meta will cut 10% of workforce as it pushes more into AI
Negative Sentiment: Controversy over employee-tracking (keystrokes/clicks) to train AI models raises internal morale and privacy concerns that could spur regulatory/ESG backlash and attract negative headlines. Meta is tracking employee usage on Google, LinkedIn, Wikipedia as part of AI training initiative
Negative Sentiment: Renewed ESG and legal pressures—shareholder proposals, liability rulings and public scrutiny related to content and AI center environmental impacts—could increase compliance costs and reputational risk. Meta Faces New ESG Pressures As Board Shifts And Shares Screen Undervalued

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 target price (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Arete Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $837.09.

View Our Latest Analysis on META

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.5%

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $627.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $650.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 currently 8.94%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.09, for a total transaction of $629,763.34. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,549,946.79. This represents a 8.77% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 166,117 shares of company stock worth $106,367,778. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Bayban lifted 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

(Get Free Report)

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.