Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.1% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $650.31 and last traded at $660.57. 13,254,022 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 15,384,882 shares. The stock had previously closed at $667.73.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $637.21, for a total value of $400,805.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 2,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,802,029.88. The trade was a 18.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $637.21, for a total transaction of $590,056.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 16,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,267,364.73. This represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Roth Mkm reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 26th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 target price (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.44.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Secured a multiyear AI content‑licensing deal with News Corp that provides paid access to publisher content for training and retrieval — helps reduce training‑data/legal risk and supports AI product quality. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Announced new applied AI engineering units to speed model development and partner with its Superintelligence Lab — indicates continued R&D investment that could accelerate AI-driven ad and commerce monetization. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta will allow rival AI chatbots access to WhatsApp via its business API in Europe for the next year — the move aims to head off a potential EU temporary injunction (reduces legal tail‑risk) but opens competition on a key messaging channel and involves paid API access. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst moves are mixed: Arete Research reaffirmed a neutral rating while Erste upgraded the stock to buy — visible but not decisive for intraday flow. (Broker notes released 3/5)
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales disclosed: CFO Susan Li sold ~56,571 shares (~$36.5M) and COO Javier Olivan sold additional shares — while commonly plan‑driven, these sizable filings can create headline pressure and near‑term selling. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and content‑risk pressure in major markets: Indonesia issued a “stern warning” over disinformation/gambling and pushed for greater algorithm transparency — possible compliance costs and reputational risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Operational hiccups this week (Facebook outages for thousands of U.S. users) plus reports Meta trimmed its in‑house chip program — both raise short‑term engagement and execution concerns. Read More. Read More.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.1%

The stock has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.10, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $655.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $682.65.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.94%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.