Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.6% – Should You Sell?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares were down 1.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $636.18 and last traded at $637.71. Approximately 32,184,738 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 114% from the average daily volume of 15,020,613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $648.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $920.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $738.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $699.34. The company has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,612 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $782.13, for a total value of $2,042,923.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,951,227.17. This represents a 25.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 181,971 shares of company stock valued at $140,461,589. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its stake in 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 valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Trust Co of the South raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.