Carbahal Olsen Financial Services Group LLC Acquires Shares of 423 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Carbahal Olsen Financial Services Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 423 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,663,600. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 379,901 shares of company stock valued at $260,806,516. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $501.48 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $608.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $606.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $684.10.

About Meta Platforms

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.