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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price traded down 1.1% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $614.61 and last traded at $615.68. 11,631,676 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average session volume of 14,950,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $622.66.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $397,540.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 2,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,715,302.28. This trade represents a 18.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $585,250.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,013,237.22. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,797,952.54. This trade represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $860.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Arete Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $846.63.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Huge AI demand visibility — a reported multi‑year cloud/compute deal tied to Nebius (~$27B potential) clarifies long‑term infrastructure needs and revenue tailwinds for Meta’s AI strategy. Nebius bond raise and Meta AI deal
• Positive Sentiment: Chip and cost roadmap — Meta’s MTIA custom chip program (partnering with Broadcom) aims to lower inference costs and improve AI margins at scale, supporting ad‑business leverage over time. Meta MTIA announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push — cash incentives and Creator Fast Track programs (and large creator payouts in 2025) are intended to boost content supply and ad revenue competitiveness vs. TikTok/YouTube. Meta offered creators cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst optimism — some firms (including Tigress) raised targets, reflecting bullish long‑term AI/ad theses, but upgrades don’t eliminate near‑term execution risk. Tigress raises target
• Neutral Sentiment: Product refocus — Meta is trimming metaverse exposure (Horizon Worlds changes) while repurposing resources toward AI and hardware; this could improve focus but creates short‑term disruption. Horizon Worlds backtrack
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal/regulatory risk — New Mexico’s child‑safety trial accuses Meta of prioritizing profit over safety, creating reputational risk and potential fines/regulatory constraints. Meta child safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse — reports of a rogue AI agent that exposed sensitive data raise compliance and operational concerns as Meta accelerates AI reliance. Rogue AI agent at Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/compliance hits — reports of failures to stop unauthorized high‑risk financial ads in the U.K. and scrutiny around deals add legal and reputational pressure. Illegal ads in Britain
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and sentiment concerns — Avocado AI model delays, layoff chatter, and recent insider sales (COO Javier Oliván and a director) are weighing on near‑term sentiment and could pressure the stock. Avocado delay and insider selling

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.1%

The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $650.42 and a 200-day moving average of $674.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.94%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.