Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Director Sells $366,571.60 in Stock

18 Mar 2026, 23:24 by Michael Walen · The Markets Daily

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) Director Robert Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,797,952.54. This trade represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $6.98 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $615.68. 11,697,104 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,986,292. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $651.86 and its 200 day moving average is $675.20. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

Positive Sentiment: Converted Manhattan pop-up into a 10‑year leased Fifth Avenue flagship to showcase AI glasses and VR/AR hardware — a move that supports hardware sales and consumer discovery. Meta converts New York City pop-up store into permanent retail location
Positive Sentiment: Launches “Creator Fast Track” with guaranteed monthly payments to big creators and highlighted nearly $3B paid to creators in 2025 — a push to boost engagement and ad monetization. Meta will pay Instagram, TikTok and YouTube creators with big followings to post on Facebook
Positive Sentiment: Reiterated MTIA (Meta Training & Inference Accelerator) chip program with Broadcom — four MTIA chips announced to scale inference and GenAI features, supporting lower AI infra costs and product rollouts. Why Meta’s AI Chip Announcement Has Broadcom Investors Paying Attention
Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism: Tigress Financial hiked its price target and keeps a strong‑buy stance, signaling bullish analyst sentiment on long‑term upside. Benzinga coverage of Tigress price target raise
Neutral Sentiment: Signed a very large AI infrastructure commitment with Nebius (reported as a multi‑billion arrangement) — this secures capacity but implies substantial long‑term supplier spend and dependence. Nebius intends to raise $3.75 billion via convertible loan following Meta, Nvidia deals
Neutral Sentiment: Manus (Meta acquisition) launched a desktop app to run its AI agent locally — product progress but also draws regulatory scrutiny in China. Meta’s Manus launches desktop app to bring its AI agent onto personal devices
Negative Sentiment: Shutting down Horizon Worlds in VR (deadline June 15) signals further retreat from metaverse ambitions — could reduce long‑term optionality and raises questions about prior heavy investment. Meta is shutting down VR social platform Horizon Worlds
Negative Sentiment: UK regulator review found Meta repeatedly failed to block illegal high‑risk financial ads — regulatory/compliance issues could mean fines, higher moderation costs, and reputational risk. Meta vowed to stop illegal financial ads in Britain. It failed 1,000 times in a week
Negative Sentiment: Reports of possible major layoffs and ongoing China scrutiny around the Manus acquisition add execution and regulatory uncertainty that can pressure near‑term sentiment. Meta reportedly considering major layoffs

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $849.00 to $856.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $846.63.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on META

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the first 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 period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $322,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.