Meta Platforms Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 710,657 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 18% compared to the typical daily volume of 602,303 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Erste Group Bank cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock valued at $24,115,999. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $88,319,000 after acquiring an additional 18,169 shares during the period. WMS Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $876,000. Becker Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $25,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly building a cloud business that would let it sell spare AI compute capacity to third parties, potentially turning heavy infrastructure spending into a new profit source. Meta stock jumps on report of AI cloud business expansion plans
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta could enter the AI compute market helped push the stock sharply higher, with investors viewing the move as a potential long-term growth driver. Meta Stock Rises on Report It’s Building a Cloud Business. CoreWeave Drops.
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary from analysts and media outlets is framing Meta’s AI push as a major strategic bet, but these pieces are largely opinion or outlook rather than new company-specific fundamentals. Meta Stock Price Prediction: The Forecast Sees a Path to $800+
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s reported plans to launch a prediction-market app add to speculation around new product expansion, but this looks less immediately material than the AI cloud news. Inside Zuckerberg’s Reported Plan to Take On Kalshi and Polymarket in Prediction Markets
• Negative Sentiment: Meta lost a bid to dismiss a multistate lawsuit alleging Facebook and Instagram were designed to addict children, and the case is now headed toward trial, adding legal overhang. Meta Loses Bid to Dismiss States’ Lawsuit Over Facebook and Instagram Addiction Claims as Judge Says Case Should Go to Trial

Meta Platforms Stock Up 9.8%

META stock traded up $54.97 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $618.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 31,038,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,445,414. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $607.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $629.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.