Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Key Points

• Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) experienced a significant drop in share price, opening at $669.15 after insider selling by COO Javier Olivan, who sold 517 shares at an average price of $749.57.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Meta, with target prices ranging from $770.00 to $980.00 and 38 analysts giving the stock a Buy rating, while the consensus rating remains a "Moderate Buy."
• Meta recently reported strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $7.25 and revenue of $51.24 billion, surpassing analyst expectations and indicating a 26.2% increase compared to the previous year.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $751.67, but opened at $669.15. Meta Platforms shares last traded at $666.0320, with a volume of 28,334,251 shares traded.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $749.57, for a total value of $387,527.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,965,078.06. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $825.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $811.00 to $837.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $897.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $825.84.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 12.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $741.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $696.13.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Csenge Advisory Group grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the period. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $284,000. Infusive Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the first quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the second quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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