Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Up 2.3% – Here’s What Happened

13 May 2026, 18:00 by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat Gem

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) rose 2.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $619.90 and last traded at $616.63. Approximately 14,476,182 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 15,949,396 shares. The stock had previously closed at $603.00.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

Positive Sentiment: Meta is rolling out a new WhatsApp “incognito” mode for AI chats, which could help ease privacy concerns and support broader adoption of its AI features. Meta launches WhatsApp ‘incognito’ mode to address privacy concerns for AI chats
Positive Sentiment: Investors are also focused on Meta’s AI monetization and infrastructure buildout, including reports that it is working on a large financing package for a new Texas data center and continuing to spend aggressively on AI talent and compute. JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM): Funding AI Projects With Eyes on Blockchain
Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary remains constructive on Big Tech valuations, suggesting there may still be room for META and peers to run if AI growth stays strong. Big Growth. ‘Undemanding’ Prices.
Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlight ongoing analyst debate about META’s post-earnings setup, with some noting margin pressure from heavy AI investment but also multiple paths to AI-driven monetization.
Neutral Sentiment: Rokos Capital Management reportedly trimmed its META position, and PRIMECAP Management also reduced its stake, but these look more like portfolio rebalancing than a clear business-specific warning. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): Chris Rokos Trims Position
Neutral Sentiment: Meta also offered rival AI chatbots temporary access to WhatsApp as part of discussions with EU antitrust regulators, signaling ongoing regulatory management rather than a major new setback. Meta offers rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp for a month
Negative Sentiment: A California county filed a lawsuit alleging Meta profited from scam ads on Facebook and Instagram, which raises legal, compliance, and reputational risk around its core ad business. Meta loses court fight over compensation to Italian publishers
Negative Sentiment: Meta also lost a court fight in Europe over compensation to Italian publishers, adding to concerns that regulators may force the company to pay more to content owners and tighten monetization rules.
Negative Sentiment: Reports about additional job cuts suggest Meta is continuing to reshape costs as it pivots toward AI, which can signal both efficiency gains and ongoing internal pressure. More Job Cuts on the Way at Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) amid AI Pivot for Efficiency and Growth

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Evercore raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.31.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $624.72 and its 200-day moving average is $642.58.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction of $36,471,323.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 167,676 shares of company stock worth $107,299,848. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Militia Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $428,000. Wiregrass Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Wiregrass Investment Management LLC now owns 3,159 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC now owns 703 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 72,291 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,360,000 after buying an additional 2,205 shares during the period. Finally, Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 229.1% in the first quarter. Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co now owns 3,739 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,139,000 after acquiring an additional 2,603 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.