Aaron Anderson Sells 3,240 Shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total transaction of $2,002,514.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. This represents a 34.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 6.6%

META opened at $653.69 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $599.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $608.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $790.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. 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 report on Thursday, July 30th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $595.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.22.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse agent can perform tasks across Meta and third-party applications, including sending emails, booking travel, shopping and making payments. Free and paid tiers—reportedly priced as high as $100 per month—give investors a potential subscription revenue stream and a clearer path to monetizing AI infrastructure. Meta launches AI agent that can access other apps, send emails and make payments
• Positive Sentiment: Meta said early interest in Muse has exceeded expectations, boosting confidence that the product could achieve broad adoption across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Analysts remain constructive, with KeyBanc reaffirming an Overweight rating and a $780 price target. Meta says interest in its new AI agent has exceeded expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Market chatter indicates Meta acquired Stilla.ai to advance its Business Agent initiative. If confirmed, the deal could strengthen Meta’s tools for business automation, commerce and customer interactions. Market chatter on Meta’s acquisition of Stilla.ai
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic reportedly posted a high-paying sales role aimed at Meta, highlighting Meta’s importance as a major AI customer and suggesting continued demand for advanced AI models and infrastructure. The posting was later removed. Anthropic posted and deleted a sales job targeting Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s planned data-center expansion and optical-network agreements support its long-term AI ambitions, but the associated capital spending could pressure margins before agent subscriptions and other AI products become profitable. Meta’s AI capital-spending plans
• Negative Sentiment: Star AI researcher Andrew Tulloch is leaving Meta less than a year after reportedly receiving a billion-dollar compensation package. The departure raises concerns about retaining elite AI talent during an increasingly competitive hiring cycle. Star AI researcher leaves Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Muse’s ability to access sensitive data and act across applications increases privacy, security and regulatory risks. Meta also faces litigation over alleged crypto-scam advertising, while its chief accounting officer sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.