Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 1.5% Following Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) dropped 1.5% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $744.55 and last traded at $748.91. Approximately 10,555,344 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 14,619,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $760.66.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $769.20, for a total value of $399,214.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,351 shares in the company, valued at $23,345,989.20. This represents a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $781.33, for a total value of $403,947.61. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,237,562.19. The trade was a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $880.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $750.95 and a 200-day moving average of $669.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $30,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.