Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.8% – Should You Sell?

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s share price traded down 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $594.45 and last traded at $595.19. Approximately 11,317,116 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 16,727,107 shares. The stock had previously closed at $606.10.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s social-media addiction lawsuit was dropped before trial, reducing an overhang from a potentially costly legal fight. Social media addiction lawsuit against Meta is dropped
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835, signaling continued analyst confidence ahead of earnings. Wells Fargo & Company Increases Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Price Target to $835.00
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is rolling out engagement-focused product updates, including a dedicated Marketplace seller app, free verification, and a more video-centric Facebook experience, which could support user activity and ad opportunities. Meta launches new app ‘Seller’ to provide sales tools for merchants
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta and other large tech names are defending open AI models in Washington, underscoring the policy importance of the company’s AI strategy but not changing fundamentals immediately. Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, and Palantir have a message for Washington
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is closely watching Meta’s upcoming earnings for signs that ad growth can keep up with rising AI investment, making the report a key catalyst. Countdown to Meta Platforms (META) Q2 Earnings: Wall Street Forecasts for Key Metrics
• Negative Sentiment: Moody’s warned that “unprecedented” AI spending is threatening credit quality at hyperscalers including Meta, reinforcing concerns that the company may be spending too aggressively. Moody’s says ‘unprecedented’ AI spending threatens credit quality of Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and others
• Negative Sentiment: Investor anxiety about AI capex across the “Magnificent 7” is pressuring Meta alongside peers, as the market questions whether returns will justify the spending spree. Magnificent 7 stocks shed hundreds of billions amid AI spending fears

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $604.90 and its 200 day moving average is $625.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Intergy Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 6.8% in the second quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 23,553 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,267,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. 4WEALTH Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.1% during the second quarter. 4WEALTH Advisors Inc. now owns 2,603 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,493 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 43,780 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,661,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.