Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) COO Sells $314,516.95 in Stock

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $608.35, for a total transaction of $314,516.95. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,478,319.15. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, January 12th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $653.00, for a total transaction of $337,601.00.
• On Monday, January 5th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 shares were sold at an average price of $658.14, for a total value 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 transaction of $341,793.87.
• On Monday, December 15th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $333,982.00.
• On Monday, December 8th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $669.63, for a total transaction of $346,198.71.
• On Monday, December 1st, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.03, for a total transaction of $330,378.51.
• On Monday, November 24th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $598.54, for a total value of $309,445.18.
• On Monday, November 17th, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.23, for a total value of $312,386.91.
• On Saturday, November 15th, Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $1,590,690.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded up $34.67 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $647.63. 21,326,197 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,488,392. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $640.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $697.92.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer downgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $821.55.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta will roll out ads on Threads globally next week, expanding a monetization channel on a platform with 400M+ monthly users and improving the ad?growth narrative. Meta to begin rolling out Threads ads globally
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Jefferies reiterated a Buy and a $910 PT and TD Cowen lifted its target to $820 while reporting Meta will double production of Meta Glasses — signals of continued analyst conviction and product investment upside. Meta pullback creates upside opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new AI lab has delivered its first internal models, per the CTO — tangible progress on AI development that supports the company’s long?term AI narrative and could assuage some investor concerns about the ROI of heavy AI spending. Meta’s new AI team has delivered first key models
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat preview flags that the upcoming Q4 results will be driven as much by Meta’s 2026 CapEx guidance and expense outlook as by revenue/EPS — a clear catalyst that could swing the stock depending on how aggressive spending guidance is. META Q4 Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces an approaching New Mexico child?safety trial; company lawyers are trying to limit evidence — a legal overhang that adds regulatory and reputational risk. Meta seeks to limit evidence in child safety case
• Negative Sentiment: Some analyst moves and investor actions are mixed-to-negative: UBS trimmed its price target and Meta was reported trading down after that downgrade; a director sold 580 shares — small signals but they can amplify near?term volatility. UBS lowers Meta price target

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,212,506,000 after buying an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $1,191,175,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. 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.