Hartford Investment Management Co. Has $93.32 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 127,072 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,904 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.8% of Hartford Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $93,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Goldstone Financial Group LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 11.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 20,912 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.6% during the second quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 84,687 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $62,507,000 after buying an additional 4,473 shares during the period. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Citizens Jmp reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price target (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 39,078 shares of company stock worth $24,016,453 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a roughly $2 billion (~10% of the fund) stake, calling META undervalued and an AI beneficiary — a high-profile endorsement that can attract other institutional buyers and supports the stock’s AI-growth narrative. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware traction: EssilorLuxottica said it more than tripled sales of Meta AI (Ray‑Ban) glasses in 2025 — evidence Reality Labs products can scale and help diversify revenue beyond ads if growth continues. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta broke ground on a $10 billion Indiana data center to boost AI compute capacity — a multi-year investment that strengthens ad/AI infrastructure but increases near-term capex. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional buys: Fisher Asset Management and other funds boosted Meta stakes, reinforcing demand from money managers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider activity: COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares (~$343k) — a small reduction in holdings that is typical for executives and not large enough alone to signal strategic concerns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Operational progress: Market commentary highlights Reality Labs refocus (glasses/wearables), business‑messaging revenue up ~54%, and AI-driven productivity gains for engineers — signs management is converting AI investments into ad growth and internal efficiency. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/headwinds: Russian authorities removed WhatsApp from an official directory, effectively blocking the service for ~100M users — a material user/access disruption and negative for engagement in that market. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and reputational risk: Ongoing trials and testimony accusing Meta of enabling harm (including addiction/child‑safety claims) increase litigation risk and could pressure sentiment or lead to fines/operational changes. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Smaller legal loss: A German court ordered a Meta subsidiary to pay ~€30M to Deutsche Telekom — modest financially but a reminder of regional disputes that can add costs and distractions. Article Title

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $668.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $658.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $694.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.