Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) CTO Andrew Bosworth Sells 7,848 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,024. The trade was a 90.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $545.83. 13,828,073 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,841,658. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $790.80. The company has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $594.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $617.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid 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 payout ratio is 7.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.32.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,299,000 after buying an additional 2,670 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $88,319,000 after acquiring an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $876,000. Consolidated Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,215,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts say Meta’s heavy AI investments could eventually unlock significant revenue through better ad targeting, business agents, consumer subscriptions and enterprise tools. Meta’s advertising business remains strong, with recent revenue growth supported by higher ad impressions, pricing and AI-driven engagement. Meta’s AI Spending Could Unlock Abundant Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded its experimental Pocket app across the United States. The AI-powered service allows users to create and share interactive games and other content, offering a potential new engagement channel and a test bed for future AI products. Meta brings Pocket to US users
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also launched a Mac app for Meta AI featuring system-wide dictation and screen-aware assistance. Separately, longtime Meta reporter Alex Heath argued that the company may be closer than investors expect to releasing frontier-level AI models, potentially improving sentiment around its AI strategy. Meta AI launches a Mac app
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s child-safety trial involving 29 states remains the dominant market concern. Prosecutors allege Facebook and Instagram were designed to encourage compulsive use among young people and that the company failed to address known risks. Even if Meta prevails, the case could prompt changes to product design, youth access and safety policies. Meta’s Trial Could Change Instagram Even If the Company Wins
• Negative Sentiment: Former employees testified that some safety tools were “designed to fail,” intensifying reputational and litigation risks. Potential penalties and mandated platform changes could weigh on engagement, ad monetization and investor confidence. Some of Meta’s safety tools were designed to fail
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that elevated AI capital expenditures will pressure free cash flow and may not generate returns quickly enough. A recent earnings miss and the absence of direct compute revenue increase skepticism about whether Meta’s spending can justify its valuation. Meta’s H2 2026 risks and rebound prospects

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.