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

Posted by Brian Himes on Jul 16th, 2026

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report)’s share price traded down 2.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $660.16 and last traded at $664.54. 15,220,757 shares were traded during mid-day 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 Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Wedbush started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $671.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim dropped 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.45.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.5%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $601.49 and a 200-day moving average of $626.86. 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. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were 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 of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 15,253 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,013 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,893,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. HT Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. HT Partners LLC now owns 2,011 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the second quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,006 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,763,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 50,696 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.