JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $886.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $793.16.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $23.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $767.51. The stock had a trading volume of 19,759,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,363,193. The business’s 50 day moving average is $610.79 and its 200-day moving average is $611.16. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $770.90. 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 $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.95, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 27.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.27, for a total value of $643,535.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,646,237.90. This represents a 8.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. This represents a 34.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 123,333 shares of company stock valued at $80,795,845 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 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 boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,841,811,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510,123 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $22,152,075,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,036,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised price targets. Citizens JMP increased its target to $885 from $770, while other firms—including JPMorgan, KeyCorp, Cantor Fitzgerald and RBC—also offered bullish assessments. JPMorgan compared Muse’s early potential with ChatGPT’s launch. Meta stock rises as analysts raise price targets
• Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining users quickly. Apptopia estimated approximately 642,000 daily U.S. users during Muse’s first 12 days, compared with 231,000 for ChatGPT at the same stage of its mobile launch. Investors are increasingly expecting monetization through subscriptions, advertising, commerce and business services. Meta unveils Muse Charm handheld device
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded its AI hardware ecosystem. The company unveiled the Muse Charm handheld device, camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses and $1,299 Meta VR Glasses, giving Muse additional distribution channels and potentially strengthening Meta’s long-term platform strategy. Mark Zuckerberg debuts Meta VR Glasses and Muse Charm
• Positive Sentiment: Non-advertising revenue opportunities are emerging. Meta One subscription offerings, in-app purchases and Muse’s commerce integrations—including Shopify’s Shop Pay—could help diversify revenue beyond the company’s core advertising business. Meta One subscriptions show positive early signs
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro conditions remain a near-term influence. Rising Treasury yields and oil prices pressured broader technology stocks, although Meta’s gains outpaced the major indexes as investors focused on company-specific AI developments.
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending and valuation are significant risks. Analysts are debating whether Meta’s capital expenditures could approach $145 billion while free cash flow reportedly fell sharply. The stock’s steep recent rally increases the risk of profit-taking if Muse monetization does not meet elevated expectations. Meta’s spending and valuation debate
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and privacy concerns persist. Amazon has blocked Muse from its website, while privacy and security concerns surrounding AI agents and smart glasses could restrict adoption or attract regulatory scrutiny. Insider share sales under pre-arranged trading plans are an additional, though limited, cautionary signal.

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.