Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 2.7% After Insider Selling

Key Points

• Insider sale: COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares at an average price of ~$656 on Nov. 3, and Meta shares fell about 2.7% intraday to roughly $618 with trading volume up ~47% versus average.
• Wall Street view: Analysts remain broadly positive—MarketBeat reports a "Moderate Buy" consensus and an average price target of $827.60, though several firms recently trimmed targets.
• Earnings and fundamentals: Meta beat Q3 estimates (EPS $7.25 vs. $6.74; revenue $51.24B vs. $49.34B), has a ~$1.55T market cap, and pays a small annualized dividend (~$2.10, 0.3% yield).

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) shares traded down 2.7% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $618.00 and last traded at $618.94. 22,297,314 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 47% from the average session volume of 15,140,800 shares. The stock had previously closed at $635.95.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $656.00, for a total value of $339,152.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,441 shares in the company, valued at $4,881,296. This trade represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on META shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. 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. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $825.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.7%

The business's 50-day moving average price is $731.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $700.72. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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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