Q3 2024 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms, Inc. Lifted by Analyst (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Stock analysts at William Blair lifted their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for Meta Platforms in a report released on Wednesday, April 24th. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now expects that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $4.61 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $4.60. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $20.18 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2024 earnings at $19.17 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $5.11 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $5.11 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $5.38 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $6.39 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $22.00 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.37%.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on META. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $441.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $495.08 and a 200 day moving average of $403.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $208.88 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Members Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $267,000. Legacy Bridge LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 891 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 230.6% in the 1st quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong now owns 161,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $78,421,000 after purchasing an additional 112,652 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 8,424 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,090,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 39.0% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 49,537 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,121,000 after purchasing an additional 13,893 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.