Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 1.5% on Insider Selling

Key Points

• Meta Platforms' shares fell 1.5% following an insider sale, with COO Javier Olivan selling 517 shares at an average price of $781.33, resulting in a total value of approximately $403,947.
• Despite the drop, Meta has received positive ratings from several analysts, with price targets ranging from $740 to $980 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, with a yield of 0.3%, set to be paid on September 29th.

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) traded down 1.5% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $744.55 and last traded at $748.91. 10,555,344 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 14,619,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $760.66.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.33, for a total value of $403,947.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,237,562.19. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $920.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $750.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $668.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.

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