Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $562,767.24 in Stock

Key Points

• Meta COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares on May 4 at an average price of $607.74 for $562,767.24, reducing his holdings to 7,779 shares (a 10.64% decrease); the transaction was disclosed to the SEC and executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Meta posted a strong Q1 beat, reporting EPS of $10.44 vs. $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion, supporting recent stock strength (about $613 mid-day) and a $1.55 trillion market capitalization.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total value of $562,767.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,727,609.46. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Monday, May 4th, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total value of $382,268.46.
• On Monday, April 27th, Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $670.84, for a total value of $621,197.84.
• On Monday, April 27th, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $670.84, for a total value of $421,958.36.
• On Monday, April 20th, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.09, for a total value of $427,776.61.
• On Monday, April 20th, Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.09, for a total value of $629,763.34.
• On Monday, April 13th, Javier Olivan sold 1,887 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.55, for a total transaction of $1,187,960.85.
• On Monday, April 13th, Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10.
• 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 transaction of $380,784.02.
• On Monday, March 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $397,540.58.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $7.92 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $612.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,877,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,119,243. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $628.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $646.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Arete Research reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Pivotal Research decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $26,112,735,000 after purchasing an additional 310,947 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 fundamentals remain robust: recent coverage highlights Meta’s large EPS and revenue beat and strong margins that underpin the rally and support valuation. The Critical Numbers That Meta Stock Investors Need to Know
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and institutional interest persist (Mizuho keeps an outperform view with a high target; big investors remain active), which helps buying momentum. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Infrastructure demand tailwinds: recent reporting on hyperscale optical supply deals cites a multi‑billion supply relationship with Meta, reinforcing the need for data‑center capacity that supports Meta’s growth plans. Light Speed Returns: Corning Cashes In on NVIDIA Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is aggressively building advanced “agentic” personal AI assistants — a major long‑term revenue and engagement opportunity but one that raises near‑term execution and spend questions. Meta plans advanced 'agentic' AI assistant for users, FT reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational commitments: Meta is arranging large financing and data‑center deals (e.g., El Paso package), signaling heavy capex ahead — supports growth but increases cash needs. Meta taps Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan for El Paso data center deal
• Negative Sentiment: Copyright litigation risk escalates: major publishers have sued Meta over alleged misuse of books and journals to train Llama, creating potential damages and uncertainty for AI products. Major publishers sue Meta for copyright infringement over AI training
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and liability overhang: Meta is fighting a landmark social‑media addiction verdict and faces state actions (e.g., New Mexico seeking large damages) plus EU probes — these create headline risk and potential financial exposure. Meta asks California judge to throw out landmark social media addiction verdict
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern about AI spending: commentary questions whether Zuckerberg is overspending on AI as capex commitments and additional reported AI budgets (billions more) raise worries about returns and buyback pauses. Is Mark Zuckerberg Overspending on AI?

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.

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