Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 1.7% Following Analyst Downgrade

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s stock price dropped 1.7% during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $802.00 to $795.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Meta Platforms traded as low as $641.22 and last traded at $641.97. Approximately 14,502,082 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 16% from the average daily volume of 12,551,739 shares. The stock had previously closed at $653.06.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on META. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Benchmark downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $822.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $4,190,037.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares in the company, valued at $53,857,980.20. This represents a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 41,038 shares of company stock valued at $25,500,705 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Senior hire to accelerate AI and deal-making — Meta appointed Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chair and added former White House advisors to lead AI projects, strengthening relationships with capital and policy partners that could speed Meta’s AI-commercialization. Meta hires Dina Powell McCormick
• Positive Sentiment: Clear AI infrastructure strategy — CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced “Meta Compute,” a plan to build tens to hundreds of gigawatts of compute capacity over time, signalling a focused, long-term commitment to proprietary AI stack and enterprise offerings. This could deepen competitive moats if execution succeeds. Meta to build gigawatt-scale computing capacity
• Neutral Sentiment: Energy deals to secure baseload power — Meta prepaid for nuclear and other energy projects (e.g., Oklo, Vistra pipeline) to lock in power for 24/7 AI workloads. Strategically bullish long term, but the payoff is multi-year and increases near-term capital intensity. Power Hungry: Inside Meta’s Huge Investment in a Nuclear Strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/compliance activity — Meta deleted ~550,000 Australian accounts to comply with a new under‑16s ban and is engaging with regulators; operationally expected but underscores regulatory friction in key markets. Meta urges Australia to rethink under-16 social media ban
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs restructuring — Reports say Meta will cut 10–15% of Reality Labs employees this week. While a cost-cutting step, it signals retrenchment in metaverse investments and highlights management reallocating resources toward AI — a near‑term uncertainty for investors watching growth/margin tradeoffs. Meta Plans to Cut 10% to 15% of Employees in Reality Labs Business
• Negative Sentiment: Capital intensity and margin pressure — Large capex guidance (energy + data centers + AI) and heavy prepayments raise near-term cash outflows and execution risk; analysts’ minor target adjustments and valuation concerns are weighing on the stock. Analyst price target update

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Pachira Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $641.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $703.52. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for 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%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.03 earnings per share. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid 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 was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

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.