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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Research analysts at Wedbush cut their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $4.43 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $4.86. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $480.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $20.18 per share.

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

META has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ META opened at $443.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $494.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $404.27. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. S.A. Mason LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Wealth Partners Inc grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at $14,026,880. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.