Meta Platforms (META) Scheduled to Post Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) will issue its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, April 24th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $4.27 per share for the quarter. Meta Platforms has set its Q1 2024 guidance at EPS.Parties that are interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Meta Platforms to post $20 EPS for the current fiscal year and $23 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $481.07 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $494.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $399.98. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $207.13 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total value of $7,722,037.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at $20,043,756. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,392,501 shares of company stock valued at $666,506,318. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $4,223,148,000. Morgan Stanley purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $4,072,543,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,796,633,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,731,491,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $418,991,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on META shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two 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, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.53.

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.