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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price dropped 1.2% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $649.20 and last traded at $649.50. Approximately 14,607,496 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 15,519,231 shares. The stock had previously closed at $657.15.

Specifically, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,983,882. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $333,982.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,549,164. This represents a 3.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.16, for a total value of $344,699.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,067,594.40. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $818.59.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reported to be developing new multimodal AI — an image/video model codenamed “Mango” and a text model called “Avocado” targeted for H1‑2026, which could accelerate product differentiation and ad/engagement upgrades. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. federal action on AI (an executive order to create a national AI framework) is being viewed as a net positive for Big Tech — it could reduce a patchwork of state rules and lower compliance complexity for large platforms like Meta. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush trimmed its price target from $920 to $880 but kept an “outperform” rating — the cut tempers upside expectations but the firm still implies substantial upside vs. current levels. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Austrias Supreme Court ruled Meta’s personalized ad model unlawful and ordered sweeping user‑data access changes across the EU — this is a binding precedent that raises regulatory, compliance and revenue risk in Europe. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders (including General Counsel Jennifer Newstead and COO Javier Olivan) have sold blocks of shares in recent weeks — repeated insider sales can be perceived negatively by the market even if amounts are small relative to overall holdings. Read More. Read More.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $659.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $707.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given 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 is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.