Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan upgraded Meta Platforms to Overweight from Neutral and raised its price target to $820 from $640, implying approximately 25% upside.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: Meta has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $787.54, with multiple firms maintaining Buy or Outperform ratings.
• Meta’s latest quarter delivered 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion, but earnings per share of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus estimate; shares were trading up 6.6% at the time of the report.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $820.00 price objective on the social networking company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $640.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target suggests a potential upside of 25.44% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $787.54.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 6.6%

Shares of META opened at $653.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $790.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $599.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $608.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 28.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $754,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,517 shares in the company, valued at $910,200. The trade was a 45.33% 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $462,024. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 36,227 shares of company stock worth $21,205,509 in the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Junto Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 104.1% in the 2nd quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 110,841 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $62,436,000 after buying an additional 56,537 shares during the period. Miramontes Capital LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 7.1% during the second quarter. Miramontes Capital LLC now owns 4,813 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,711,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $348,000. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,345 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,884,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,095 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Early interest in Muse reportedly exceeded expectations, strengthening the view that Meta can convert its billions of users and AI investments into subscription revenue beyond advertising. Why Are Meta Shares Soaring Today
• Positive Sentiment: KeyBanc maintained an Overweight rating and a $780 price target following the Muse launch, while ARK Invest bought 38,304 Meta shares worth approximately $24.8 million. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square also reportedly increased its stake, providing additional institutional support. Analyst updates Meta stock price target
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic reportedly posted and then removed a sales position paying more than $450,000 to target Meta as an important AI customer. The episode highlights Meta’s strategic value as an AI buyer and the intensifying competition for AI talent and business. Anthropic Pulls Meta Sales Role
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing Muse’s monetization potential against high computing costs, possible margin pressure and uncertain consumer adoption. Meta’s latest quarter showed 28% revenue growth, but EPS missed consensus estimates as infrastructure expenses increased.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces execution and reputational risks because Muse can access sensitive data and act across other applications. Privacy concerns, a lawsuit alleging that users were harmed by crypto-scam advertisements, and the departure of star AI researcher Andrew Tulloch could temper enthusiasm. Meta faces privacy and safety concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Chief Accounting Officer Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares worth about $2.0 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the sale was scheduled in advance, its signal is limited, but it may weigh modestly on sentiment.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company's principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.

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