Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2.3% – Should You Sell?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price dropped 2.3% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $559.81 and last traded at $563.85. Approximately 15,229,022 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average daily volume of 16,349,012 shares. The stock had previously closed at $577.22.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta rolled out a standalone AI companion app for creators, a move that could improve engagement and help creators grow audiences on Facebook. Facebook rolls out an AI companion app for creators
• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to push its wearables strategy with cheaper AI smart glasses starting at $299, which could broaden adoption and support a new hardware revenue stream. Meta announces new range of smart glasses starting at $299
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is also being viewed by some investors as a high-conviction AI stock, with bullish commentary pointing to strong revenue growth and improving monetization. Is Meta (META) One of the Top High-Conviction Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds?
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is reportedly developing a prediction markets app, called “Arena,” which could create a new engagement product but also faces uncertainty because it is still experimental. Mark Zuckerberg directed Meta to create a prediction markets app, NYT reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports say Meta is spending heavily on AI data-center leases, underscoring its long-term AI ambitions but also reminding investors that capex remains elevated. Big tech spending on data centers balloons to $850B, with Meta and Microsoft investing tens of billions
• Negative Sentiment: The European Union is escalating its probe into Meta’s Instagram and Facebook design, with regulators accusing the platforms of using addictive features that could harm children. EU to ramp up Meta probe into addictive design, Bloomberg News reports
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing U.S. scrutiny, with the Trump administration reportedly pressing the company to submit AI models for voluntary security review. US presses Meta to agree to AI reviews as security concerns rise, NYT reports

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Wedbush raised Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $618.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $632.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $317,162.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. The trade was a 11.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.