Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Key Points

• Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, retaining 133,622 shares valued at approximately $77 million, which constitutes around 2.7% of its portfolio.
• Insider trading was notable, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg selling 15,847 shares for over $11.9 million, and CTO Andrew Bosworth selling 22,449 shares, indicating significant insider activity.
• Analysts have recently raised their target prices for Meta, with ratings suggesting a consensus average target of $822.41 and a majority recommending a 'buy' or 'strong-buy' rating.

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133,622 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,087 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.7% of Hartford Investment Management Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Hartford Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $77,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the sale, the director owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,755,013.36. This represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 167,815 shares of company stock valued at $117,135,845. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ META traded up $8.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $771.99. 9,653,883 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,549,258. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $707.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $648.07. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $784.75. The company has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.