FY2024 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Raised by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research lifted their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, November 20th. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now forecasts that the social networking company will post earnings of $22.40 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $20.67. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $22.53 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q4 2024 earnings at $6.50 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $5.34 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.13 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $24.31 EPS.

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $559.14 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $572.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $524.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $46,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.36, for a total value of $4,117,971.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 531,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $274,643,622.24. The trade was a 1.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 152,141 shares of company stock valued at $83,390,497. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

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.