Q2 2024 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Lifted by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Research analysts at Roth Capital raised their Q2 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, April 25th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now forecasts that the social networking company will earn $4.96 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $4.79. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $20.18 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2024 earnings at $20.88 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $441.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $208.88 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $495.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $403.40.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,157,645.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $958,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,757,883.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $11,285,855,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,752,900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,251 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.