Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Trading Down 2.5% – Here’s Why

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 2.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $660.16 and last traded at $664.54. Approximately 15,220,757 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 10% from the average daily volume of 16,897,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $681.31.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to attract bullish commentary as investors view it as a major AI winner, with several recent notes highlighting its upside potential, strong hedge fund ownership, and improving stock momentum. Muse Image: Can Meta Platforms Inc (META) Kill Two Birds With One Stone?
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI infrastructure push remains a key growth driver, including plans for massive data-center investment and custom AI chips, which could strengthen its competitive position in cloud and advertising. How Meta Platforms (META) Is Strengthening Its AI Infrastructure With Custom Chips and Massive Computing Expansion
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush initiated coverage with a neutral rating and a $671 price target, signaling Wall Street sees limited near-term conviction even though the target implies modest upside. Benzinga coverage of Wedbush initiation
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta announced that its second-quarter 2026 results will be released on July 29, keeping investor attention on whether earnings and capex trends justify the stock’s valuation. Meta to Announce Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a lawsuit from former employees alleging its AI-driven layoff process unfairly targeted workers on medical, parental, and other protected leave, which adds legal and reputational risk. Employees sue Meta, alleging discrimination in using AI to make layoffs
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reports on the lawsuit and scrutiny over AI-enabled workforce reductions could increase investor concern about regulation, litigation, and how aggressively Meta is managing costs. Meta employees sue over alleged AI-driven layoffs targeting workers on leave

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $601.49 and a 200-day moving average of $626.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 112,000 shares during the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $322,000. Hedge funds and other 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.