Meta Platforms’ (META) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $920.00 price objective on the social networking company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 29.70% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $945.00 price target (down from $995.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $808.88.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of META stock traded down $27.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $709.33. 20,582,358 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,522,361. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $653.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $625.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms will post 27.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $728.10, for a total transaction of $688,782.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,932 shares in the company, valued at $5,047,189.20. The trade was a 12.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 149,797 shares of company stock worth $102,180,385 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after buying an additional 3,510,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,200,469 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,013,948,000 after buying an additional 1,046,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,230,426,000 after purchasing an additional 162,909 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America expects Meta to exceed third-quarter revenue expectations, forecasting $63.8 billion versus a $63.3 billion consensus estimate, and maintained a Buy rating with an $810 price target. Meta expected to beat revenue forecasts as AI boosts advertising, says Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: Meta released the open-weight Muse Spark model for coding and AI-agent tasks, while its collaboration with Apple enables developers to run the model locally on high-end Mac computers. The developments could broaden adoption of Meta’s AI technology and reduce reliance on cloud infrastructure. Meta releases open-weight Muse Spark model
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan reaffirmed its Overweight rating and set a $920 price target, implying substantial upside, while other analysts including KeyCorp and Rosenblatt also maintained positive ratings. JPMorgan reaffirms Meta rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expected to report third-quarter results on October 21. Investors will focus on advertising growth, user metrics, profitability, capital expenditures, and management’s outlook for AI infrastructure spending. Meta Q3 earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta withdrew $25 million from a previously announced $65 million effort to support political candidates considered favorable to the AI industry. The move may reduce near-term spending but signals a change in its political strategy. Meta Withdraws $25 Million from Its Midterms Push
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst-related pressure is weighing on the stock after Goldman Sachs lowered its expectations and Meta was reported down following an analyst downgrade, countering the more bullish JPMorgan view. Meta stock price down on analyst downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that AI infrastructure spending could reach approximately $205 billion in 2027. Heavy capital expenditures are reducing free cash flow, while potential legal charges and regulatory scrutiny add to earnings risk. Meta AI spending could hit $205 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Seven U.S. senators are questioning Meta’s claim of $6.6 billion in research tax credits for AI data centers, creating potential tax liability and reputational risk. Senators question Meta AI data-center tax credits

About Meta Platforms

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.