Meta Platforms (META) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is expected to issue its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, January 29th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $6.75 per share and revenue of $46,963,410.95 billion for the quarter. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2024 guidance at EPS.Persons interested in participating in the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, analysts expect Meta Platforms to post $23 EPS for the current fiscal year and $26 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

META opened at $647.49 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $385.66 and a 1-year high of $652.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $601.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $560.51.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 568,016 shares of company stock worth $346,031,180. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $654.20.

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.