Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Shares Down 2.8% on Insider Selling

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) dropped 2.8% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $645.28 and last traded at $649.81. Approximately 14,830,993 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 17,217,246 shares. The stock had previously closed at $668.69.

Specifically, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $663.19, for a total value of $342,869.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,033,702.62. The trade was a 5.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $754.00 to $849.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $860.00 target price (up previously from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Benchmark downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.50.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a roughly $2 billion stake (~10% of the fund), calling META undervalued and an AI beneficiary — a high‑profile institutional endorsement that can attract other buyers and bolster the AI-growth narrative. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.525 per share (payable March 26) — a formal return of capital that supports yield‑seeking investors and signals board confidence in cash flow. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware traction: EssilorLuxottica reported it more than tripled sales of Meta AI (Ray-Ban) glasses in 2025 — evidence Reality Labs products can scale and begin to diversify revenue beyond advertising. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Data center expansion: Meta broke ground on a $10B Indiana data‑center (and another large campus reported elsewhere), strengthening long‑term AI compute capacity that underpins ad/AI initiatives. These are long‑horizon positives but raise near‑term capex. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider activity: COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares (~$343k) in a routine filing; the sale is small relative to total insider holdings and follows a pattern of periodic sales. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Russia block: Russian authorities removed WhatsApp from an official directory and effectively blocked access for ~100M users — a material engagement loss in that market and a nearer‑term revenue/MAU headwind. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and reputational risk: Ongoing trials and testimony (including accusations that products enabled harm) increase litigation exposure and political/regulatory scrutiny that could lead to fines, restrictions or product changes. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Capex/FCF pressure: Coverage of the “Mag‑7” AI arms race highlights heavy industry capex and potential free‑cash‑flow strain — Meta’s big data‑center builds support growth but keep near‑term spending elevated. Article Title

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $658.31 and its 200 day moving average is $693.94. The company has a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.28.

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 the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were 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 was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Empire Financial Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 1,070 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 9,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,129,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Alaethes Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,618 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,029,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Oak Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,001,000. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 15,857 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,467,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.