Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Buys 590 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 22.4% during Q1, owning 3,226 shares valued at $1.86 million, making it the 19th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Meta Platforms reported $6.43 EPS for the latest quarter, surpassing analyst estimates of $5.33, with a net margin of 39.11% and a revenue of $42.31 billion.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds currently own 79.91% of Meta's stock, indicating strong institutional interest and confidence in the company.

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 22.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,226 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.2% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on META. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $845.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Benchmark upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $754.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 151,944 shares of company stock valued at $104,965,570. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of META stock traded down $6.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $711.47. 3,558,057 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,318,961. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $694.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $642.71. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $450.80 and a 1-year high of $747.90. The company has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.