Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 2% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was down 2% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $598.01 and last traded at $603.12. 13,297,285 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average daily volume of 16,609,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $615.58.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.62, for a total transaction of $1,133,369.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,082,317.24. The trade was a 51.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $838.26.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new AI products and planned in-house chip production are fueling optimism that the company can turn its huge AI spending into new revenue and lower infrastructure costs. Meta to put AI chip into production in September as it looks to double computing capacity, memo shows
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also reacting to Meta’s broader AI monetization push, including developer access to Muse Spark 1.1 and aggressive pricing meant to compete with OpenAI and Anthropic. Meta enters the crowded AI coding battle with Muse Spark 1.1
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary has turned more constructive, with analysts and market watchers saying Meta’s AI strategy and compute expansion may support further upside after a weak first half. Meta’s stock heads for best week since early 2024 as optimism builds around AI strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is also drawing attention for plans to build a large AI data center in Alberta, which supports long-term capacity growth but adds to near-term capital spending. Meta to build C$13 billion Alberta data center, its first in Canada
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk is weighing on sentiment after the European Union said Facebook and Instagram may violate digital rules because of “addictive” design features and warned Meta to make changes or face fines. EU tells Instagram, Facebook to change addictive features or risk fines

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $598.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $626.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $876,000. Diversified Trust Co. increased its holdings in 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. Consolidated Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. 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.