What The Name Change Means For Facebook And Why Pete Najarian Is Buying Call Options

Facebook Inc FB is trading higher Friday after the company announced that it will change its name to Meta.

Friday's move higher is less about the name change and more about the direction in which the company is headed, according to Market Rebellion co-founder Pete Najarian.

"I think it's about the direction in which Zuckerberg is directing this company and this pivot that they are making right now from Facebook into the metaverse itself," Najarian said Friday on CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report."

Regardless of the name of the company, people will still refer to it as Facebook, Najarian said. The interesting thing happening here is the pivot that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is making, he said. 

"I think they are extremely committed to the next move, not that they are changing Facebook, but the next move for Facebook in terms of direction and verticals going forward," he said.

How To Trade It: Najarian told CNBC he noticed unusual call buying activity in Facebook and decided to follow the call buyers into the Facebook trade. 

Nearly 15,000 $325 strike call options expiring next week were purchased Friday, he noted. 

"That actually makes me get very interested again that maybe this is a stock that can start moving again back to the upside rather than having as much pressure on it as it has."

Facebook is set to begin trading under the new ticker symbol "MVRS" on Dec. 1.

See Also: Why The Facebook Name Change Is A Big Deal, According To Gene Munster

FB Price Action: Facebook has traded as high as $384.33 and as low as $244.61 over a 52-week period.

The stock was up 2.39% at $324.50 Friday afternoon. 

Photo: Simon from Pixabay.