Insider Selling: Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells 2,461 Shares of Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Javier Olivan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 17th, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.18, for a total value of $402,044.22.
• On Tuesday, February 17th, Javier Olivan sold 172 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.18, for a total value of $109,938.96.
• On Monday, February 9th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $663.19, for a total transaction of $342,869.23.
• On Monday, February 2nd, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.60, for a total transaction of $369,448.20.
• On Monday, January 26th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.00, for a total transaction of $343,805.00.
• On Tuesday, January 20th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $608.35, for a total value of $314,516.95.
• On Monday, January 12th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $653.00, for a total value of $337,601.00.
• On Monday, January 5th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $650.41, for a total transaction of $336,261.97.
• On Monday, December 29th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.14, for a total transaction of $340,258.38.
• On Monday, December 22nd, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $661.11, for a total value of $341,793.87.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $3.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $643.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,619,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,848,533. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $656.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $691.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.94%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta struck a multiyear, large-scale deal with Nvidia to buy millions of current and future AI GPUs and standalone CPUs, plus networking and rack systems — securing supply for Meta’s AI training/inference data-center buildout and signaling a stronger AI roadmap. Nvidia to sell Meta millions of chips
• Positive Sentiment: Smart-money buying: recent 13F/press reports show billionaire managers increasing exposure to Meta (David Tepper, Bill Ackman/Pershing Square among them), reinforcing investor confidence that Meta is a leading AI platform play. Tepper goes big on Micron, Meta, Alphabet
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional conviction and cash‑flow narrative: analysts and write-ups argue recent higher CAPEX guidance and FQ4 results were overreacted to — Meta projects multi-year free cash flow to fund buybacks/AI investment, which tempers valuation concerns. Why strong money loves Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Supplier/eco-system effects: Meta’s AI/data-center push benefits partners (e.g., Corning, energy suppliers) and broadens capital spending across the supply chain — supportive for long-term growth but increases near-term capex and partner concentration. Corning’s surprise AI boom
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: CEO Mark Zuckerberg is testifying in a high-profile Los Angeles trial on Instagram’s impact on youth mental health — a “Big Tobacco”-style case that could lead to reputational damage, fines, or new regulation. Zuckerberg faces questioning at youth addiction trial
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure abroad: Spain has requested probes into AI-generated images on major platforms and India is discussing age-based social media restrictions — any new rules or enforcement actions in large user markets could raise compliance costs and constrain engagement/ads. Spain to probe X, Meta, TikTok

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 641 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $5,254,000. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 5,891 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,889,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Sparrow LLC DE acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $100,994,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.29.

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.