Insider Selling: Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Insider Sells $333,836.37 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.23, for a total value of $333,836.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 29,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,101,358.08. This trade represents a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Jennifer Newstead also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, December 9th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $664.16, for a total value of $344,699.04.
• On Tuesday, December 2nd, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $642.22, for a total value of $333,312.18.
• On Tuesday, November 25th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.14, for a total transaction of $323,928.66.
• On Tuesday, November 18th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $307,040.40.
• On Monday, November 10th, Jennifer Newstead sold 516 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.00, for a total transaction of $325,596.00.
• On Tuesday, November 4th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $628.00, for a total transaction of $325,932.00.
• On Tuesday, October 28th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.00, for a total transaction of $390,807.00.
• On Tuesday, October 21st, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.37, for a total transaction of $382,176.03.
• On Tuesday, October 14th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $707.85, for a total value of $367,374.15.
• On Tuesday, October 7th, Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total value of $372,112.62.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $658.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $659.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $707.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $870.00 target price (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $825.00 price target (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $818.59.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $30,000. 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 worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reported to be developing new multimodal AI — an image/video model codenamed “Mango” and a text model called “Avocado” targeted for H1‑2026, which could accelerate product differentiation and ad/engagement upgrades. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: U.S. federal action on AI (an executive order to create a national AI framework) is being viewed as a net positive for Big Tech — it could reduce a patchwork of state rules and lower compliance complexity for large platforms like Meta. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush trimmed its price target from $920 to $880 but kept an “outperform” rating — the cut tempers upside expectations but the firm still implies substantial upside vs. current levels. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Austrias Supreme Court ruled Meta’s personalized ad model unlawful and ordered sweeping user‑data access changes across the EU — this is a binding precedent that raises regulatory, compliance and revenue risk in Europe. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders (including General Counsel Jennifer Newstead and COO Javier Olivan) have sold blocks of shares in recent weeks — repeated insider sales can be perceived negatively by the market even if amounts are small relative to overall holdings. Read More. Read More.

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.