Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $1,748,612.10 in Stock

Key Points

• Meta COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares on April 13 for $1,748,612.10 under a pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plan, reducing his holdings by 20.83% to 10,557 shares valued at about $6.65 million.
• Meta recently reported strong results, beating EPS expectations ($8.88 vs. $8.16) with revenue of $59.89 billion (up 23.8% year‑over‑year) and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.
• Strategic AI push: Meta expanded a multi‑year chip partnership with Broadcom through 2029 (initially >1 gigawatt of custom silicon capacity) to accelerate in‑house AI compute and reduce third‑party reliance.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Javier Olivan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 13th, Javier Olivan sold 1,887 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.55, for a total value of $1,187,960.85.
• On Monday, March 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total value of $380,784.02.
• On Monday, March 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total value of $560,581.88.
• On Monday, March 16th, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $397,540.58.
• On Monday, March 16th, Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $585,250.52.
• On Monday, March 9th, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $634.94, for a total value of $399,377.26.
• On Monday, March 9th, Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $634.94, for a total value of $587,954.44.
• On Monday, March 2nd, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $637.21, for a total value of $400,805.09.
• On Monday, March 2nd, Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $637.21, for a total value of $590,056.46.
• On Monday, February 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.68, for a total value of $410,535.72.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $9.09 on Wednesday, hitting $671.58. 14,921,055 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,988,636. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.31. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $626.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $651.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $59.89 billion during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.02 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded multi‑year chip partnership with Broadcom — a commitment through 2029 and an initial >1 gigawatt of custom silicon capacity accelerates Meta’s in‑house AI compute plans and reduces reliance on third‑party suppliers, supporting faster AI model scale and lower long‑term costs. Meta inks deal with Broadcom for custom AI chips
• Positive Sentiment: History of earnings beats and bullish earnings outlook — analysts note Meta’s track record of upside surprises and argue the company has the mix (ad demand recovery + AI monetization) to again beat estimates, which supports valuation momentum into earnings. Why Meta Platforms (META) is Poised to Beat Earnings Estimates Again
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street support — Morgan Stanley recently named META a top Big Tech earnings pick with a Buy and a $775 target, which lifts sentiment and can drive demand from institutional investors. Meta Stock Is the Top Pick for Tech Earnings, Morgan Stanley Says. Here's Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Reality Labs reorg to speed execution — Meta is reorganizing Reality Labs and creating an Applied AI Engineering unit to accelerate hardware and AI integration; if execution improves, this could shorten the timeline to commercial AR/VR/AI products. Meta Makes Major Changes to Speed Reality Labs' Progress
• Neutral Sentiment: Internal AI initiatives (Zuck replica) draw attention — Meta is training a photorealistic Mark Zuckerberg AI for internal engagement; it signals advanced AI capabilities but has unclear near‑term monetization impact. Meta Platforms Is Building a Mark Zuckerberg AI Bot. Does That Matter for META Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: EU orders rollback of WhatsApp AI access fee — European regulators say Meta’s paid access restriction harms rival AI assistants and have ordered reversal, creating potential lost revenue on WhatsApp monetization and increased regulatory scrutiny. EU warns Meta WhatsApp AI fee breaches antitrust rules, orders rollback
• Negative Sentiment: Italy court allows class action over Facebook data scraping — new litigation raises legal exposure and potential settlement or remediation costs, a recurring regulatory/legal overhang for investors. Italy court allows class action against Meta over Facebook data scraping
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution persists — at least one brokerage published a pessimistic near‑term forecast, reflecting remaining concerns around regulatory risk, ad cyclicality and execution on high‑cost hardware projects. Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META Stock Price

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Evercore raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $1,144.00 to $1,015.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $837.72.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 44.0% in the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the first quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 10,769 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,161,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.4% in the first quarter. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC now owns 4,619 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,643,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the first quarter. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,770 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,878,000 after acquiring an additional 2,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,300,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.

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