Key Points
- CFO Susan Li sold 55,702 shares of Meta at an average price of $633.61 on Feb 24, generating about $35.3 million and reducing her stake by 80.86% to 13,186 shares, according to an SEC filing.
- Meta reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS estimates ($8.88 vs. $8.16) and posting $59.89 billion in revenue (up 23.8% year‑over‑year), while analysts maintain mostly positive ratings with an average target near $844.
- Company catalysts include major AI infrastructure deals (AMD GPU commitments and a reported multibillion‑dollar Google TPU arrangement) and a newly announced quarterly dividend of $0.525 ($2.10 annual, ~0.3% yield).
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CFO Susan Li sold 55,702 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.61, for a total value of $35,293,344.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,354,781.46. This trade represents a 80.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.
Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%
NASDAQ:META opened at $657.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $656.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $686.79. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business's revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.94%.
Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Major AI infrastructure deals — Meta expanded its multi‑year AI hardware partnerships (AMD GPUs commitment and a reported multibillion‑dollar arrangement to rent Google TPUs) that accelerate model training scale and support ad/AI revenue growth expectations. Meta-AMD AI deal boosts scale Google signs multibillion-dollar AI chip deal with Meta
- Positive Sentiment: Enforcement vs. ad scams — Meta filed lawsuits and took technical enforcement actions against advertisers accused of celebrity‑impersonation scams, a move aimed at protecting ad quality and user trust (positive for advertiser relationships and brand safety). Meta Platforms files lawsuits against scam advertisers
- Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell meaningfully in February, reducing near‑term bearish pressure and signaling less hedge‑fund pessimism about the shares.
- Neutral Sentiment: Investor access / visibility — CFO Susan Li will present at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference March 4, providing an opportunity for management to update on capex, AI cadence and monetization plans. Meta to Participate in the Morgan Stanley TMT Conference
- Neutral Sentiment: Talent turnover — OpenAI hired a high‑profile Meta AI researcher; talent movement in the AI space is noteworthy but common, and Meta’s broad AI hiring and partnerships partly offset concerns. OpenAI hires Meta AI researcher
- Negative Sentiment: EU legal pressure — An adviser to Europe’s top court backed regulators in a dispute over Meta’s antitrust information requests, increasing regulatory risk and potential compliance costs in the region. EU court adviser rejects Meta's fight
- Negative Sentiment: Ongoing litigation and reputation risk — Testimony in a high‑profile California trial about social‑media harms and new Instagram parent‑alert policies keep regulatory/legal scrutiny and potential liabilities on investors’ radars. Woman suing Meta, YouTube expected to testify Instagram to alert parents of teen searches
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Recent large share sales by senior executives (CFO and COO) may be read negatively by some investors even though insiders often sell for diversification or tax reasons. SEC filing: Susan J. Li sale
Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Citizens Jmp reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 target price (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Pivotal Research cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $844.44.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Recommended Stories
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
