Hartford Financial Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:METAFree Report) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,894 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $652,767.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,229 shares in the company, valued at $709,329.64. This trade represents a 47.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total value of $8,162,353.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 673,878 shares of company stock valued at $416,269,904 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $697.46 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $616.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $568.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $710.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:METAGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 25.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

(Free Report)

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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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

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