Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Has $1.54 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,636 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.1% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. Presidio Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Presidio Capital Management LLC now owns 661 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 86,644 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. now owns 741 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of META 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $657.45 and a 200-day moving average of $601.96.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research 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 assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total value of $567,127.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,760,768.50. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 725,081 shares of company stock worth $472,702,625. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Profile

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.