Robert Kimmitt Sells 580 Shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Director Robert Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.18, for a total transaction of $370,724.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,007 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,374.26. This represents a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $655.66 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $656.67 and a 200-day moving average of $690.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $850.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research cut Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $872.00 target price (up previously from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,587,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of the South raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Secured multiyear GPU/CPU and codesign deal with NVIDIA that locks supply and a roadmap (Rubin/Vera, confidential computing) — this makes Meta’s AI rollout and large‑scale personalization (e.g., WhatsApp agents) more credible and is a primary driver of investor buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Latest results and marketing metrics show AI is improving ad efficiency — Q4 revenue and EPS beat and stronger ad metrics support the thesis that AI can monetize engagement and help justify infrastructure spend. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional/activist positioning (including Bill Ackman / Pershing Square and other funds adding stakes) is providing conviction behind the rally and reduces short‑term supply risk. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Horizon Worlds is being repositioned to mobile and explicitly decoupled from Quest VR — this reduces near‑term execution risk for Reality Labs but also signals less near‑term upside if VR hardware adoption stalls. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/ecosystem updates (revived smartwatch plans; third‑party “Made for Meta” integrations like Virtuix) expand the device roadmap but are unlikely to move core ad revenue near term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Very large 2026 CapEx guidance (~$115–$135B) raises real margin and ROIC risk — if AI monetization lags, the spending could compress returns and leave Meta exposed to depreciating infrastructure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider selling (COO, CFO and at least one director disclosed multi‑trade sales) can add short‑term supply and raises questions about timing of personal liquidity events. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing legal and child‑safety scrutiny (Zuckerberg testimony, PTA distancing, and public reporting on content/encryption tradeoffs) is an overhang that could affect user engagement, regulatory costs or ad targeting over time. Read More.

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.