Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 2% – Here’s What Happened

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) traded down 2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $598.01 and last traded at $603.12. Approximately 13,297,285 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 16,609,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $615.58.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta rolled out Muse Image, its first image-generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, across Meta AI, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The new tool could increase user engagement and give Meta more ad-targeting and creator monetization opportunities. Meta expands generative AI tools with Muse Image rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta from hold to buy, reinforcing the view that the stock remains attractive despite recent weakness. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Raised to “Buy” at Erste Group Bank
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to highlight Meta’s strong ads business, heavy free cash flow, and potential to monetize excess AI/data-center capacity, which supports the long-term investment case. A $6.5 Billion Reason to Bet on Meta Platforms Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is also being discussed as a possible entrant into the neocloud/cloud-compute rental market, but that opportunity is still speculative and not yet a confirmed earnings driver. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Just Delivered Fantastic News for Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Meta disclosed that four U.S. states are seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties in a youth-safety trial, creating a very large legal risk that is weighing on sentiment. Meta says US states are seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties in August youth safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta’s AI progress has “not really accelerated” as expected, plus ongoing scrutiny of its AI glasses and content/privacy issues, may raise concerns about how quickly heavy AI spending will pay off.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by a Meta director adds a small additional headwind to market sentiment, even though the sale was pre-planned under a 10b5-1 program.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on Meta Platforms and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $600.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $627.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,513 shares of company stock worth $24,419,874. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.