Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Key Points

• Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.0%, owning 130,976 shares, worth approximately $96.67 million, making it the 5th largest position in their portfolio.
• Analysts have increased their price targets on Meta Platforms, with Roth Capital raising the target to $740.00 and Wedbush to $920.00, reflecting strong market confidence and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Meta Platforms reported a strong Q2 earnings performance with $7.14 EPS, beating estimates, and a quarterly revenue of $47.52 billion, up 21.6% year-over-year.

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 130,976 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,646 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.1% of Hartford Investment Management Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Hartford Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $96,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Capital upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $880.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $743.40 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $752.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $672.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. The company's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued 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 was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $781.33, for a total transaction of $403,947.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,237,562.19. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $769.20, for a total value of $399,214.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,345,989.20. This trade represents a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 215,507 shares of company stock worth $165,874,850. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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