Frederick Financial Consultants LLC Invests $592,000 in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Frederick Financial Consultants LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,010 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $592,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total transaction of $22,515,282.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 379,901 shares of company stock valued at $260,806,516. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $612.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $607.32. 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. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS 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 given a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.