Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 1.3% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Meta Platforms shares fell 1.3% in Monday trading, with the stock dipping as low as $579.22 before last trading around $585.39 on heavier-than-average volume.
• Investor concern centered on AI spending and monetization, as reports said Meta may delay its Muse Spark AI API rollout and could pursue a multibillion-dollar equity offering to help fund its AI buildout.
• There were also some offsetting positives, including Meta’s partnership with Best Buy to showcase VR and AI products and the removal of an Italian regulatory investigation into its WhatsApp AI bot.

Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) traded down 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $579.22 and last traded at $585.39. 17,981,826 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the average session volume of 16,221,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $593.00.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta and Best Buy launched “Meta Lab @ Best Buy” experiential spaces, giving shoppers hands-on access to Meta’s VR headsets and AI glasses and potentially supporting hardware adoption. Meta Partners Best Buy to Showcase AI and VR Products
• Positive Sentiment: Italy’s competition regulator dropped its investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp AI bot, removing a regulatory overhang. Italy regulator drops investigation into Meta's WhatsApp AI bot
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta remains a widely watched AI stock, with some commentary pointing to continued hedge fund and congressional interest rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Here is why Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) is among the Top 10 Stocks That Members of Congress Own
• Neutral Sentiment: A class-action privacy settlement payment related to Facebook is being distributed again, a reminder of Meta’s legacy legal issues but likely not a major new financial event. Second Facebook privacy settlement payment is coming. Who qualifies?
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta has delayed rollout of its Muse Spark AI model API raised concerns that the company may be slower to monetize its large AI infrastructure investments. Meta (META) Delays Key AI Rollout, Raising Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing renewed legal action against NSO Group over alleged WhatsApp targeting, keeping litigation risk in focus. Meta takes legal action against Israeli spyware firm NSO Group
• Negative Sentiment: Media reports that Meta may pursue a large equity offering to fund its AI buildout weighed on the stock by raising dilution and capital-spending concerns. Meta Platforms Slips on Report of Plans for Multibillion-Dollar Offering to Fund AI Buildout

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush upgraded Meta Platforms from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Benchmark started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $618.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $636.81. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928 over the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 34.2% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $38,373,000 after buying an additional 13,311 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $25,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $55,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 16.2% in the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,091,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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