Rep. Josh Gottheimer Sells Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) recently sold shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META). In a filing disclosed on February 10th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Meta Platforms stock on January 16th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “MORGAN STANLEY – SELECT UMA ACCOUNT # 1” account.

Representative Josh Gottheimer also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) on 1/31/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Visa (NYSE:V) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) on 1/31/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of ICF International (NASDAQ:ICFI) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) on 1/31/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Visa (NYSE:V) on 1/30/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) on 1/30/2025.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $719.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $631.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $578.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $725.01.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 756,735 shares of company stock valued at $475,285,232. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,266,531,000 after buying an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,344,552,000 after acquiring an additional 424,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $717.90.

About Representative Gottheimer

Josh Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2017. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

Gottheimer is also running for election for Governor of New Jersey. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on June 10, 2025.

Gottheimer attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate degree. He became a Thouron Fellow at Oxford and attended Harvard Law School. Gottheimer worked as a speech writer under former President Bill Clinton (D), assisting with two State of the Union addresses, among other projects. Before running for Congress, he worked for Microsoft as a general manager for corporate strategy.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.