Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Up 4.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was up 4.5% during trading on Thursday after Evercore raised their price target on the stock from $820.00 to $860.00. The company traded as high as $779.82 and last traded at $777.59. 34,540,331 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 98% from the average session volume of 17,451,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $744.10.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. Arete Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $806.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $945.00 price target (down from $995.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $780.12.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,024. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 123,333 shares of company stock valued at $80,795,845. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is strengthening Meta’s AI growth story. Muse reportedly reached the top of Apple’s U.S. free-app rankings, while Apptopia estimated 642,000 U.S. daily active users during its first 12 days—well ahead of ChatGPT’s early mobile adoption. Raymond James analysts suggested Meta’s AI-agent opportunity could eventually become a $50 billion business. Why Meta Platforms Stock Keeps Going Up
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their expectations for META. JPMorgan increased its price target to $920 and maintained an overweight rating. Tigress Financial raised its target to $995, Loop Capital to $955, Citizens JMP to $885, and President Capital upgraded the stock to buy with an $897 target. Analysts view AI agents as a potential new growth curve beyond advertising. Meta stock rises as analysts raise price targets
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding AI monetization and hardware distribution. Muse is being integrated with Shopify’s Shop Pay for agent-driven commerce and will be available through new wearables. Meta announced the camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses, $1,299 Meta VR Glasses and the pocket-sized Muse Charm device, creating potential revenue streams from commerce, subscriptions, advertising and hardware. Meta debuts new VR glasses and Muse Charm
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm has pushed valuation and expectations higher. META has risen sharply over the past month and trades near its 52-week high, making continued execution and evidence of monetization increasingly important.
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment and competitive risks remain significant. Reports point to collapsing free cash flow and capital expenditures approaching $145 billion, raising questions about whether Muse will generate sufficient returns. Amazon has blocked Muse from accessing its shopping inventory, and mixed reactions to the Charm device highlight the risk of another unsuccessful AI hardware product. Meta’s AI spending and valuation risks
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy and regulatory scrutiny could limit adoption. Camera-equipped glasses and AI agents continue to face concerns over recording, data use and security, while Meta also faces legal uncertainty related to the use of user data by advertising partners.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Watchman Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 5,091 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Penney Financial LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the first quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 399 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the first quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 985 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Tenzing Financial LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tenzing Financial LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $610.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $611.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.

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.