Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $820.00 price target on the social networking company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $640.00.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on META. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $787.54.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $648.03 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $601.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $608.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $790.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms will post 28.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.91%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at $3,875,854.26. This represents a 34.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 3,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold a total of 61,581 shares of company stock valued at $37,512,295 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse gains early consumer traction: Meta’s new AI agent reportedly reached No. 2 or No. 3 on the U.S. App Store shortly after its launch. Muse can interact with social platforms and outside services, while paid tiers priced at $20 and $100 per month create a potential new revenue stream beyond advertising. Meta’s AI agent Muse is now the No. 2 app in the US
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded the stock: JPMorgan raised Meta to Overweight from Neutral and increased its price target to $820, citing meaningful growth potential from frontier AI models and agentic products. The upgrade helped reinforce the bullish view that Meta can diversify beyond advertising. JPMorgan upgrades Meta on AI models and agents
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure optionality: Analysts believe Meta’s large AI-compute investments could eventually support a cloud-computing or infrastructure business, adding an opportunity not currently reflected in the valuation. The company’s strong revenue growth and substantial cash resources support this investment thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525-per-share dividend payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 21. While the yield is modest, the payout signals confidence in ongoing cash generation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Legal settlement viewed as manageable: Commentary suggests Meta’s potential $18 billion social-media-addiction settlement, spread over a decade, may have a limited impact on annual free cash flow. Resolving the litigation could also remove an overhang, but the headline liability remains material.
• Negative Sentiment: Monetization and privacy concerns: Muse’s usefulness depends on access to users’ inboxes, accounts and payments, raising adoption and privacy questions. Analysts remain uncertain about conversion rates and near-term revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution and regulatory risks: A prominent AI researcher is leaving Meta for Anthropic, while an internal effort to capture employee screens for AI training reportedly triggered resistance. Meta is also discussing possible teen social-media restrictions in South Korea, and TikTok rejected Meta advertisements urging participation in a child-safety settlement.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.