Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Purchases 182 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,354 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.1% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,011,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,978 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,906,009,000 after acquiring an additional 946,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,143,462 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,945,799,000 after acquiring an additional 111,735 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.6 %

META traded down $2.45 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $430.17. 18,396,504 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,427,248. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $492.83 and a 200 day moving average of $406.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,276,482 shares of company stock valued at $620,451,095. Company 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.