FY2024 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Increased by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities researchers at Roth Capital raised their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now forecasts that the social networking company will earn $22.49 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $22.40. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $22.96 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q4 2024 earnings at $6.60 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $5.64 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $6.15 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $6.35 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.54 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $25.68 EPS.

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

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $651.27.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $616.46 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $598.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $558.31. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $381.16 and a 12-month high of $638.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total value of $524,990.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 531,190 shares of company stock valued at $322,938,501 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. OLIO Financial Planning bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $319,000. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 3,036 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 17,953 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,512,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 769 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M3 Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.