Why Meta Platforms Stock Only Bumped Slightly Higher on Friday

Key Points The social media titan kept its dividend level. This was encouraging, but it shouldn't be anyone's primary reason to buy the stock. 10 stocks we like better than Meta Platforms › Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) ended the week with a small but encouraging piece of good news. This concerned the company's quarterly dividend, which it's been doling out since early 2024. Investors like consistency, particularly in the frequently volatile and disruptive tech sector . Meta's stock closed the day up by 0.6%. Going steady Well, after market close on Thursday, Meta said its board of directors declared a new quarterly payout of just under $0.53 per share of its Class A and Class B common stock (of the two, Class A is the one that is publicly traded). Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue » Image source: Getty Images. The dividend is to be paid on Monday, Sept. 28, to stockholders of record as of Sept. 21. At the most recent closing price, it would yield 0.3%. Meta has paid a quarterly distribution in every quarter since March 2024, when it initiated the payout at $0.50 per share. Since then, it has only been raised once, with the March 2025 lift to the current level. Better reasons to buy With that wafer-thin yield, we can confidently say that few investors buy and hold Meta stock for the dividend. So ultimately it's more of a morale booster than anything; still, if I were a shareholder, I'd be pleased that the company is at least providing a few coins from its vast free cash flow. With that, I'd say an investment in Meta should be far more heavily weighed toward the company's growth potential. This remains considerable given the size and reach of its Facebook in particular, which, after many years, remains an irresistibly attractive platform for any kind of advertiser. Should you buy stock in Meta Platforms right now? Before you buy stock in Meta Platforms, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Meta Platforms wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $409,917 !* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,341,724 !* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 942 % — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor , and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of September 11, 2026. Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .

This was encouraging, but it shouldn't be anyone's primary reason to buy the stock.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) ended the week with a small but encouraging piece of good news. This concerned the company's quarterly dividend, which it's been doling out since early 2024. Investors like consistency, particularly in the frequently volatile and disruptive tech sector . Meta's stock closed the day up by 0.6%.

Well, after market close on Thursday, Meta said its board of directors declared a new quarterly payout of just under $0.53 per share of its Class A and Class B common stock (of the two, Class A is the one that is publicly traded).

Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »

The dividend is to be paid on Monday, Sept. 28, to stockholders of record as of Sept. 21. At the most recent closing price, it would yield 0.3%.

Meta has paid a quarterly distribution in every quarter since March 2024, when it initiated the payout at $0.50 per share. Since then, it has only been raised once, with the March 2025 lift to the current level.

With that wafer-thin yield, we can confidently say that few investors buy and hold Meta stock for the dividend. So ultimately it's more of a morale booster than anything; still, if I were a shareholder, I'd be pleased that the company is at least providing a few coins from its vast free cash flow.