Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 2.1% Following Insider Selling

Key Points

• Meta Platforms' stock price is currently down 2.1% and traded at $750.92, with a significant decline in trading volume of 72% from the average.
• Several analysts have issued positive price targets for Meta, with JMP Securities and HSBC both raising their target to $900, indicating a strong outlook for the stock.
• Meta recently reported quarterly earnings of $7.14 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations, along with a year-over-year revenue increase of 21.6% to $47.52 billion.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) dropped 2.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $752.40 and last traded at $750.92. Approximately 4,210,266 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 15,261,496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $767.37.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $400,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,174,200. This represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $782.13, for a total value of $2,042,923.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,609 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,951,227.17. This trade represents a 25.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $728.87 and a 200-day moving average of $657.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of 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. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Meta Platforms

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.