Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $261,571.80 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.70, for a total value of $261,571.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,529,411.20. The trade was a 6.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Javier Olivan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 10th, Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $754,800.00.
• On Monday, July 27th, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $382,337.65.
• On Monday, July 27th, Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45.
• On Monday, July 20th, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $645.85, for a total transaction of $406,239.65.
• On Monday, July 20th, Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $645.85, for a total transaction of $540,576.45.
• On Monday, July 6th, Javier Olivan sold 1,887 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.62, for a total transaction of $1,133,369.94.
• On Monday, July 6th, Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56.
• On Monday, June 15th, Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $754,800.00.
• On Monday, June 15th, Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $84,000.00.
• On Monday, June 1st, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $395,823.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of META opened at $589.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $595.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $620.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.4% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,670 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares during the period. WMS Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $876,000. Consolidated Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,215,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook, citing 28% revenue growth, resilient advertising demand and additional monetization opportunities in WhatsApp. Some commentary argues that the market is assigning little value to future AI and messaging revenue streams. Meta Has $27 Billion That Isn’t On Its Balance Sheet
• Positive Sentiment: Meta released Glimmer, an open-weight AI model that users can download and run on their own hardware, supporting Mark Zuckerberg’s strategy of broadening access to AI. The move could strengthen developer adoption and Meta’s competitive position, although its financial payoff is uncertain. Meta’s open AI, and a $250M deal gone very wrong
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta removed approximately 756,000 suspected under-16 accounts in Australia—462,000 from Instagram and 294,000 from Facebook—as it enforces the country’s youth social-media restrictions. The action demonstrates regulatory compliance but may raise moderation costs and reduce engagement among younger users. Meta says it has taken down 756,000 Australian teen accounts
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional trading was mixed: Dodge & Cox increased its position by 1.47 million shares, while Sands Capital and Columbus Hill reduced their stakes. These transactions may influence sentiment but do not by themselves change Meta’s fundamentals. Dodge and Cox boosts Meta Platforms stake
• Negative Sentiment: A Ninth Circuit ruling removed a procedural barrier to more than 3,000 lawsuits alleging Meta’s product features harm young users. The court did not determine liability, but the decision allows the cases to proceed and adds potential litigation costs, damages and pressure to change platform design. How Serious Are Thousands of Addiction Lawsuits for Meta and Snap?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Meta’s roughly $145 billion AI investment plan and major data-center projects could produce diminishing returns, compress margins and weigh on free cash flow before monetization catches up. Meta: Diminishing Q2 CapEx ROI Is Alarming
• Negative Sentiment: Meta COO Javier Olivan disclosed additional sales under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, while several funds also trimmed holdings. Although planned insider sales are not necessarily bearish, they can add to near-term selling pressure. Meta COO insider stock sale

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $671.00 to $595.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.32.

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.