Webster Bank N. A. Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 4.2% in the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately $12.5 million, making it the bank's 16th largest investment.
• Insider transactions included significant sales by Jennifer Newstead and Andrew Bosworth, indicating a decrease in their ownership stakes in Meta, with a total of 259,674 shares sold by insiders in the last quarter.
• Meta's stock has been subject to varying analyst ratings, with several institutions raising their price targets, resulting in an average target price of $822.41 and a majority rating of "Moderate Buy."

Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,874 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.3% of Webster Bank N. A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Webster Bank N. A.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $129,666,000 after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $11,710,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.50, for a total value of $393,142.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,777,167.50. This trade represents a 1.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 259,674 shares of company stock valued at $197,549,274 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $764.70 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $742.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $662.53. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

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.

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