Washington Trust Bank Has $14.19 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Washington Trust Bank reduced its Meta position by 13% in the second quarter, selling 3,751 shares and retaining 25,185 shares valued at approximately $14.19 million.
• Meta has strong institutional support, with institutional investors and hedge funds owning 79.91% of the stock. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $792.68.
• Meta reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth but missed quarterly earnings expectations, while shares opened at $741.24 and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

Washington Trust Bank lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 13.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,185 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,751 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.0% of Washington Trust Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Washington Trust Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Bayban boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $886.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wedbush upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $792.68.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 11.3%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $608.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $610.09. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $785.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.91%.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining rapid user adoption. Muse reportedly surpassed ChatGPT in early U.S. iOS downloads, with approximately 730,000 downloads in its first five days and stronger first-12-day performance than ChatGPT’s mobile launch. The traction is strengthening expectations that Meta can monetize AI through advertising, subscriptions and commerce. Meta Muse downloads article
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships support a broader AI platform strategy. Shopify plans to let Muse complete purchases across its merchant network, while reports also cited interest from services such as Stripe. These integrations could increase Muse’s usefulness and create future transaction or platform revenue opportunities. Shopify Muse checkout article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism added momentum. Wells Fargo raised its Meta price target to $796 from $640 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing Muse’s early traction, recent model launches and the upcoming Connect conference. Wells Fargo price target article
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure investments are being viewed as strategic growth spending. Meta’s planned Alberta data center and reported high-capacity subsea network reinforce its commitment to supporting AI workloads, although the investments could raise near-term costs.
• Neutral Sentiment: Connect is a near-term catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant volatility around Meta’s annual event, where the company may provide updates on Muse, AI models, hardware and monetization plans. Meta Connect trading expectations article
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on its website, citing unauthorized access, security and credential concerns. The dispute highlights regulatory, privacy and platform-integration risks that could limit agentic-commerce adoption. Amazon blocks Muse article

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total transaction of $2,002,514.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,875,854.26. This trade represents a 34.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $650.28, for a total value of $13,005,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 244,516 shares in the company, valued at $159,003,864.48. The trade was a 7.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020 in the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company's principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.

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