Washington Trust Bank Decreases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Washington Trust Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,406 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,083 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.3% of Washington Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstone Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 44.4% during the third quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $43,790,000 after buying an additional 5,224 shares during the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $130,467,000 after buying an additional 38,432 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.0% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $155,387,000 after buying an additional 20,912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $374,680.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,983,882. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total value of $341,860.11. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,876,738.02. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 40,054 shares of company stock worth $24,764,629 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $915.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $822.96.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $620.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $641.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $699.99. The company has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.29. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Deals that de‑risk Meta’s AI/data‑center power needs — Meta has signed prepayment/partnership agreements (e.g., Oklo) to secure long‑term baseload energy for its Prometheus supercluster and broader Meta Compute buildout, lowering a major execution risk for its massive data‑center plans. Oklo’s Meta Deal De-Risks the Story—Rebound Setup Emerging
• Positive Sentiment: BofA and other firms show constructive analyst interest — BofA reiterated/maintained a buy stance tied to Meta’s AI infra progress; Rosenblatt and some boutiques have also been positive recently, which can support sentiment if execution continues. BofA Securities Asserts Buy Stance
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware demand signal — reports say Meta is discussing doubling Ray‑Ban Meta glasses output, signaling potential early revenue diversification from AI wearables beyond advertising. Meta mulls doubling output of Ray‑Ban glasses
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta Compute initiative is long‑term strategic but capital intensive — the plan to build “tens/hundreds of gigawatts” of compute capacity underscores AI ambition (control and optionality) but raises timing and ROI questions for investors. Meta Compute: Inside Zuckerberg’s Massive Data Center Bet
• Neutral Sentiment: Wikipedia/API partnerships broaden AI training access — Meta joins others to formalize access to Wikipedia content for LLM training; strategic but not an immediate revenue driver. Wikipedia signs AI content training deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Near‑term catalyst: Q4/2025 earnings and 2026 guidance (scheduled Jan. 28) — results and explicit capex/FCF guidance will likely be the primary short‑term driver. Meta to Announce Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs headcount cuts (~1,000–1,500 jobs) signal a pullback in metaverse investment — while lowering costs, the layoffs underscore a strategic pivot (and product risk) away from VR, which can unsettle investors focused on long‑term innovation stories. Meta Cuts Reality Labs Jobs
• Negative Sentiment: Capex and free‑cash‑flow pressure — analysts and articles highlight materially higher 2026 capex and declining LTM FCF, which has prompted some downgrades and valuation concerns; that pressure can weigh on the stock until FCF trends stabilize. Meta Compute: Capex/FCF analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling / high‑profile sales — recent disclosures show COO Javier Olivan has sold blocks of shares; combined with other negative headlines this can amplify short‑term selling pressure. SEC filing: Olivan sale
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and valuation skepticism — some firms have trimmed targets or expressed caution about the funding intensity and timing of AI monetization, which keeps shares vulnerable to multiple compression. Analyst downgrade reports

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.