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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price dropped 2.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $645.28 and last traded at $649.81. Approximately 14,830,993 shares traded hands during mid-day 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $663.19, for a total value of $342,869.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,033,702.62. The trade was a 5.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research lowered Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $850.00 price target (up from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.50.

Trending Headlines about 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) and called META undervalued and a clear AI beneficiary — a high?profile endorsement that can attract other institutional buyers and supports the AI growth narrative. Ackman Bets on Meta (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware traction: EssilorLuxottica said it more than tripled sales of Meta AI (Ray?Ban) glasses in 2025 — evidence Reality Labs products can scale and help diversify revenue beyond advertising if growth continues. EssilorLuxottica Triples Meta AI Glasses Sales (CNBC)
• Positive Sentiment: Buildout for AI: Meta began major data?center projects (including a $10B Indiana campus and a Lebanon campus) to secure AI compute — bullish for long?term ad/AI capabilities though it increases near?term capex. Indiana Data Center (Reuters) Lebanon Data Center (Daily Journal)
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying: Large funds (e.g., Fisher Asset) have increased stakes recently, reinforcing demand from money managers. Fisher Asset Boosts Stake (TipRanks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Olivan sold small, routine blocks (517 shares) in recent filings — notable for disclosure but not large enough to indicate management loss of conviction. SEC Filing (Olivan Sale)
• Negative Sentiment: Russia blocks WhatsApp: Authorities removed WhatsApp from official directories, effectively blocking service for ~100M users — a material engagement hit in that market and a recurring geopolitical risk. WhatsApp Blocked in Russia (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and reputational risk: Ongoing trials and witness testimony (including claims about harmful content and platform effects) are elevating litigation risk and pressuring sentiment; potential fines, remedies or policy changes could weigh on the stock. Trial Testimony (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Negative narratives: Opinion pieces drawing parallels between Meta and past corporate collapses (e.g., Enron analogy) can amplify investor anxiety even if not grounded in operational metrics. Enron Comparison (247wallstreet)

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $658.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $694.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Elevated Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,655,000. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,862 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $19,052,000 after purchasing an additional 3,446 shares during the period. Helium Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Helium Advisors LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $447,103,000. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 55,883 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,888,000 after buying an additional 3,313 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently 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.