Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 1.5% – Time to Sell?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price traded down 1.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $643.50 and last traded at $650.41. 13,670,646 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 9% from the average session volume of 14,973,054 shares. The stock had previously closed at $660.09.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s acquisition of AI startup Manus (reported >$2B) is being viewed as strategically accretive — Manus has rapid ARR growth and deployed AI agents at scale, which could strengthen Meta’s business-focused AI offerings and ad performance. Why Meta’s +$2B AI Startup Acquisition Could Be a Huge Win
• Positive Sentiment: Research/coverage remains upbeat: Rosenblatt reaffirmed a Buy on META, and commentators (including Jim Cramer) have highlighted Meta as a buy, supporting investor confidence. Rosenblatt Securities Reaffirms Buy Rating for Meta Platforms
• Positive Sentiment: Monetization tailwinds continue: the WSJ reports Instagram Reels has become a ~\$50B business — evidence Meta’s AI-driven ad products are driving revenue expansion. How Meta’s Reels Became a $50 Billion Business
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market activity has surged around META, signaling elevated trader interest and potential volatility but not a clear directional signal for fundamentals. Spotlight on Meta Platforms: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry pieces and stock roundups (Fool, 247WallSt) compare Meta to peers and include it in AI/tech buy lists — helpful context but not immediate catalysts. Meta Platforms vs. Pinterest
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has surfaced (including a ~\$341k sale by Jennifer Newstead and separate COO stock sales), which can spook investors despite being modest relative to Meta’s market cap. Jennifer Newstead Sells 519 Shares of Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal pressure increased: the U.S. Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit over scam ads and Reuters ran an investigation alleging Meta misled regulators about fake ads — these raise reputational and potential legal risk that can weigh on the stock. U.S. Virgin Islands Files Lawsuit Against Meta Over Scam Ads and User Safety

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research set a $718.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $820.22.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $649.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $705.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total value of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,876,738.02. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.14, for a total value of $340,258.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,029,308. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,269,739 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $37,902,948,000 after acquiring an additional 682,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,823,375,000 after acquiring an additional 278,180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.