Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by WASHINGTON TRUST Co

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,131 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.7% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $47,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $694.84 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $645.83 and a 200 day moving average of $589.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.