Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2.8% on Insider Selling

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 2.8% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $645.28 and last traded at $649.81. 14,830,993 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 17,217,246 shares. The stock had previously closed at $668.69.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $663.19, for a total transaction of $342,869.23. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,033,702.62. The trade was a 5.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.50.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a roughly $2 billion stake (~10% of the fund) and called META undervalued and a clear AI beneficiary — a high‑profile endorsement that can attract other institutional buyers and supports the AI growth narrative. Ackman Bets on Meta (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware traction: EssilorLuxottica said it more than tripled sales of Meta AI (Ray‑Ban) glasses in 2025 — evidence Reality Labs products can scale and help diversify revenue beyond advertising if growth continues. EssilorLuxottica Triples Meta AI Glasses Sales (CNBC)
• Positive Sentiment: Buildout for AI: Meta began major data‑center projects (including a $10B Indiana campus and a Lebanon campus) to secure AI compute — bullish for long‑term ad/AI capabilities though it increases near‑term capex. Indiana Data Center (Reuters) Lebanon Data Center (Daily Journal)
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying: Large funds (e.g., Fisher Asset) have increased stakes recently, reinforcing demand from money managers. Fisher Asset Boosts Stake (TipRanks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Olivan sold small, routine blocks (517 shares) in recent filings — notable for disclosure but not large enough to indicate management loss of conviction. SEC Filing (Olivan Sale)
• Negative Sentiment: Russia blocks WhatsApp: Authorities removed WhatsApp from official directories, effectively blocking service for ~100M users — a material engagement hit in that market and a recurring geopolitical risk. WhatsApp Blocked in Russia (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and reputational risk: Ongoing trials and witness testimony (including claims about harmful content and platform effects) are elevating litigation risk and pressuring sentiment; potential fines, remedies or policy changes could weigh on the stock. Trial Testimony (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Negative narratives: Opinion pieces drawing parallels between Meta and past corporate collapses (e.g., Enron analogy) can amplify investor anxiety even if not grounded in operational metrics. Enron Comparison (247wallstreet)

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $658.54 and its 200-day moving average is $694.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued 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, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after buying an additional 878,396 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,112,735,000 after buying an additional 310,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,152,075,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.