Q3 2024 Earnings Estimate for Meta Platforms, Inc. Issued By Roth Capital (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Analysts at Roth Capital decreased their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Thursday, April 25th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $5.03 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $5.15. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $20.20 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2025 earnings at $23.64 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on META. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $430.17 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $492.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $406.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total transaction of $216,354.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total transaction of $216,354.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,257,291 shares of company stock valued at $612,916,087 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,469,906,000 after purchasing an additional 927,491 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.