Key Points
- COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta on March 2 at an average price of $637.21 for $590,056.46, leaving him with 16,113 shares (a 5.43% reduction, roughly $10.27M in value).
- The sale is part of a string of recent insider transactions by Olivan (multiple sales in Jan–Mar) and follows a large CFO sale (~56,571 shares), highlighting elevated insider selling even as institutional investors continue to buy.
- Meta’s underlying business remains strong: the company recently beat EPS and revenue estimates, the stock was trading up about 1.9%, and Meta announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 ($2.10 annualized, ~0.3% yield).
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $637.21, for a total transaction of $590,056.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 16,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,267,364.73. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.
Javier Olivan also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Monday, March 2nd, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $637.21, for a total transaction of $400,805.09.
- On Monday, February 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.68, for a total value of $410,535.72.
- On Monday, February 23rd, Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.68, for a total value of $604,381.68.
- 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 shares were sold at an average price of $639.18, for a total value of $109,938.96.
- On Sunday, February 15th, Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97.
- 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 value of $342,869.23.
- On Monday, February 2nd, Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock. The stock was 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 shares were sold at an average price of $608.35, for a total transaction of $314,516.95.
Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.9%
META opened at $667.73 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $655.49 and a 200-day moving average of $682.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $872.00 price target (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $850.00 price objective (up from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $844.44.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms
Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $30,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Meta Platforms News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Signed a multiyear AI content-licensing deal that gives Meta paid access to News Corp content for training and retrieval — supports AI product quality and reduces legal/quality risk around training data. Read More.
- Positive Sentiment: Announced a new applied AI engineering organization (flat structure to speed model development) and an applied AI unit to accelerate model work — signals faster product development and continued R&D investment behind AI-driven ad and product monetization. Read More.
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and pundits highlight Meta’s ability to monetize AI across its large user base (including tests of AI shopping tools) — reinforces revenue upside from higher engagement and ad yield. Read More.
- Neutral Sentiment: Company presented at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference — useful for analyst color but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
- Neutral Sentiment: Valuation reviews note Meta’s scale, margins and recent cooling in short-term returns — provides context for positioning but is not a day-specific driver. Read More.
- Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat and others point out heavy institutional buying even as insiders sell — suggests professional investors remain constructive despite headline noise. Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: Indonesia issued a "stern warning" over disinformation and gambling content and is pushing for greater algorithm transparency — represents regulatory and content-moderation risk in a large market. Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: Separately, Indonesian officials publicly urged Meta to increase algorithm transparency, adding reputational and compliance pressure that could lead to operational or policy costs. Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: Facebook experienced user outages in the U.S. this week — short-term engagement and ad-impression risk and a reminder of operational vulnerability. Read More.
- Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales disclosed: CFO Susan Li sold ~56,571 shares (~$36.5M) and COO Javier Olivan also sold shares — executed via SEC filings; while often tax/plan-driven, such sales can create short-term selling pressure and feed negative headlines. Read More. Read More.
About Meta Platforms
(
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.
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