Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $581.25 and last traded at $590.32. 24,006,840 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 56% from the average session volume of 15,410,489 shares. The stock had previously closed at $597.69.

Specifically, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $3,085,695.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 6,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,227,214.56. The trade was a 42.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $4,190,037.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,857,980.20. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.23, for a total transaction of $312,386.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 15,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,245,927.46. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $825.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $707.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $706.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in 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 period. Pachira Investments Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co of the South boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.