Meta Platforms' (META) "Overweight" Rating Reaffirmed at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan reaffirmed Meta’s “overweight” rating and set a $920 price target, implying 24.88% potential upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Meta has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $808.88, despite some firms recently lowering their targets.
• Meta reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.80 billion, though quarterly EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus estimate. Insiders sold approximately $102.2 million of shares over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 79.91% of the stock.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating restated by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $920.00 target price on the social networking company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 24.88% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on META. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $840.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $955.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Citic Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $718.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $808.88.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1%

META stock opened at $736.72 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $779.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.19. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $653.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $625.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. The company's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 27.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total transaction of $2,002,514.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,875,854.26. This represents a 34.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 149,797 shares of company stock valued at $102,180,385. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. now owns 104,435 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $75,734,000 after buying an additional 2,395 shares in the last quarter. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $230,000. Michael J. Porro & Co. Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $251,000. North Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the third quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 2,408 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,836,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paragon Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 41.7% during the third quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s partnership with Apple to make the open-weight Muse Spark model run locally on high-end Mac computers strengthens the company’s AI distribution and could expand developer adoption without requiring cloud-based computing. Apple and Meta team up to make Muse AI model run on Mac computers
• Positive Sentiment: Meta released Muse Spark Open for coding and agentic AI tasks, including a version designed to run on Macs. The open-weight strategy may accelerate ecosystem adoption and reinforce Meta’s competitive position in AI. Meta releases open-weight Muse Spark model for coding, agentic tasks
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan reaffirmed its “overweight” rating and set a $920 price target, implying substantial upside from the reference price. KeyCorp and Rosenblatt also recently maintained bullish ratings. JPMorgan reaffirms Meta overweight rating
• Positive Sentiment: Meta- and Google-backed Jio Platforms is preparing a major Indian IPO, highlighting the potential value of Meta’s strategic investments and its exposure to India’s digital-growth market. Meta- and Google-backed Jio Platforms IPO
• Neutral Sentiment: A Brazilian judge ordered Meta to treat runoff candidates equally, creating a compliance and political-risk issue, although the immediate financial impact is unclear. Brazil judge orders Meta to treat runoff candidates equally
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs lowered its Meta price target from $860 to $762, citing concerns about rising expenses and leaving limited implied upside despite retaining a “buy” rating. Goldman Sachs lowers expectations for Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s more than $130 billion AI investment program is pressuring free cash flow, while Reality Labs continues to generate large losses. Investors may also be concerned about a possible legal charge and limited share repurchases ahead of earnings. Meta's AI spending is massive
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling and an investment manager’s reduced position add modest supply and confidence concerns, although some sales were conducted under pre-arranged trading plans.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.

Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.

Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.