Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 1.3% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) dropped 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $638.12 and last traded at $648.18. Approximately 15,627,067 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 2% from the average daily volume of 15,872,220 shares. The stock had previously closed at $657.01.

Specifically, CFO Susan J. Li sold 55,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.61, for a total transaction of $35,293,344.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,354,781.46. The trade was a 80.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.68, for a total value of $410,535.72. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 2,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,882,981.80. This trade represents a 17.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.68, for a total transaction of $604,381.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 17,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,121,014.52. The trade was a 5.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research lowered Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Arete Research set a $718.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.44.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Large AI infrastructure wins — Meta reported multiyear, multibillion-dollar arrangements to access external AI accelerators (reported deal to rent Google’s TPUs) that speed model training and reduce time-to-market for AI-enabled ad and product features. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Deepening GPU commitments and heavy capex plans — Meta is expanding AMD GPU deals and signaling very large 2026 infrastructure spending to scale model training and ad monetization, which supports long-term revenue/earnings upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Ad quality enforcement — Meta filed suits and took enforcement actions versus alleged celebrity‑impersonation scam advertisers, a move that could protect advertiser trust and ad yield over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Stablecoin payments trial — Meta is trialing stablecoin payments across WhatsApp/Instagram/Facebook (possible rollout later), a long‑lead monetization opportunity in emerging markets but with execution and regulatory uncertainty. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor access — CFO Susan Li will speak at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference (Mar 4), offering a chance for management to update on capex cadence and monetization — useful near‑term catalyst for guidance/clarity. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulatory setback — An EU court adviser sided with regulators over Meta’s objections in an antitrust data-information dispute, raising compliance and legal risk in Europe. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing litigation & reputation risk — High-profile U.S. trial testimony about social‑media harms and Instagram policy changes keep legal/regulatory headlines active, a recurring source of uncertainty for investors. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — CFO Susan Li (and recent COO filings) disclosed large share sales; while often for diversification/taxes, such moves can pressure sentiment when combined with market rotation. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure — Analysts note Alphabet’s stronger near-term search/AI ad position, which could favor ad-dollar flow to Google vs. Meta during the AI spending cycle. Read More.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $656.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $686.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $22,152,075,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after acquiring an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,608,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.