Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently 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 26.05% from the stock’s current price.
META has been the subject of a number of other reports. Arete Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $806.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. CICC Research dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $773.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $808.88.
View Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Price Performance
META stock opened at $729.86 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $779.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $653.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $625.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.19.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 40,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total transaction of $28,510,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 184,516 shares in the company, valued at $131,515,624.16. This trade represents a 17.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $728.10, for a total transaction of $688,782.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,047,189.20. The trade was a 12.01% 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 149,797 shares of company stock worth $102,180,385 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 18,777 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares in the last quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 33.6% in the 2nd quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 3,031 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. William John Sempolinski bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,107,000. Sone Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 38.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sone Capital Management LLC now owns 16,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,046,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakewood Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 63.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lakewood Capital Management LP now owns 115,985 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,333,000 after purchasing an additional 45,130 shares in the last quarter. 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: 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.
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.
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