Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) CFO Sells $1,315,400.61 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CFO Susan Li sold 2,127 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.43, for a total transaction of $1,315,400.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,346 shares in the company, valued at $9,490,426.78. This trade represents a 12.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $8.60 on Tuesday, hitting $602.61. The company had a trading volume of 11,716,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,909,861. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $620.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $637.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Bayban boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta began laying off about 8,000 employees, or roughly 10% of its workforce, as part of a broader AI-first transformation. The move highlights rising restructuring costs and suggests more cuts could follow later this year. Meta Begins Laying Off 8,000 Employees Amid A.I. Transformation
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta is cutting jobs while ramping up AI investment have kept attention on margin pressure and the scale of the company’s AI spending bill, which some investors view as a near-term drag on earnings. Meta Moves 7,000 Workers Into AI Roles Ahead of Job Cuts
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta offered rival AI chatbot makers limited free access to WhatsApp in Europe before charging once usage limits are reached. The move could support platform engagement and developer adoption, but the financial impact is still unclear. Exclusive: Meta offers AI rival chatbots limited free WhatsApp access, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also drew attention for new AI-related product and safety initiatives, including an incognito chat feature for WhatsApp’s AI assistant and new parental supervision tools, but these are not likely to move the stock in the near term. Meta Platforms (META) Launching Incognito Chat for WhatsApp AI Assistant

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.31.

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.