Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 11.3% After Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price fell 11.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $650.17 and last traded at $666.47. 87,571,139 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 494% from the average session volume of 14,731,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $751.67.

Specifically, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.00, for a total value of $390,807.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,900,268. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $749.57, for a total transaction of $387,527.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,965,078.06. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Benchmark cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,086.00 to $1,117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $740.41 and its 200-day moving average is $695.92.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.