Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Has $47.83 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 81,693 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,214 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 4.0% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $47,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.3 %

META stock opened at $605.71 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $657.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $601.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 last year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on META. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $622.24, for a total transaction of $22,351,483.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 725,081 shares of company stock valued at $472,702,625. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.