Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 3.4% – What’s Next?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price dropped 3.4% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $597.22 and last traded at $606.10. Approximately 15,424,040 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 8% from the average session volume of 16,782,785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $627.17.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: A Florida teen dropped his social-media addiction lawsuit against Meta before trial, removing a near-term legal overhang and avoiding a potential headline risk for the company. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835, reinforcing bullish expectations for the stock ahead of results. American Banking News article
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports highlighted Meta’s AI push as increasingly investor-friendly, including upbeat new ad campaigns aimed at reframing the company’s AI strategy as optimistic rather than threatening. TechCrunch article
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said Meta’s AI glasses could become a meaningful long-term hardware growth opportunity, citing first-mover advantage in AI wearables. Proactive Investors article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta remains under scrutiny as analysts note the stock is trading below multiple key moving averages and still faces a mixed technical setup ahead of earnings. Benzinga article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are still focused on Meta’s heavy AI spending, with broader market commentary suggesting rising capital-expenditure pressure could keep sentiment cautious into earnings. Benzinga article

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.4%

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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $605.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $626.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.04 earnings per share for the current 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 paid 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock worth $23,184,319. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.