Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $1.27 EPS

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27, Zacks reports. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Meta Platforms updated its Q1 2025 guidance to EPS.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of META traded up $2.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $676.49. 20,552,285 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,885,814. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $606.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $562.78. 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 market cap of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $387.10 and a 12-month high of $682.58.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. 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 other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the 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 directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total transaction of $23,160,423.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 602,612 shares of company stock valued at $368,414,542. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.41.

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.