Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price Down 1.3% – Here’s Why

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shares traded down 1.3% on Monday . The company traded as low as $579.22 and last traded at $585.39. 17,981,826 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the average session volume of 16,221,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $593.00.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta and Best Buy launched “Meta Lab @ Best Buy” experiential spaces, giving shoppers hands-on access to Meta’s VR headsets and AI glasses and potentially supporting hardware adoption. Meta Partners Best Buy to Showcase AI and VR Products
• Positive Sentiment: Italy’s competition regulator dropped its investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp AI bot, removing a regulatory overhang. Italy regulator drops investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp AI bot
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta remains a widely watched AI stock, with some commentary pointing to continued hedge fund and congressional interest rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Here is why Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) is among the Top 10 Stocks That Members of Congress Own
• Neutral Sentiment: A class-action privacy settlement payment related to Facebook is being distributed again, a reminder of Meta’s legacy legal issues but likely not a major new financial event. Second Facebook privacy settlement payment is coming. Who qualifies?
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta has delayed rollout of its Muse Spark AI model API raised concerns that the company may be slower to monetize its large AI infrastructure investments. Meta (META) Delays Key AI Rollout, Raising Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing renewed legal action against NSO Group over alleged WhatsApp targeting, keeping litigation risk in focus. Meta takes legal action against Israeli spyware firm NSO Group
• Negative Sentiment: Media reports that Meta may pursue a large equity offering to fund its AI buildout weighed on the stock by raising dilution and capital-spending concerns. Meta Platforms Slips on Report of Plans for Multibillion-Dollar Offering to Fund AI Buildout

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Benchmark began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $618.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $636.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 three months, insiders have sold 41,305 shares of company stock worth $25,567,928. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.