FY2024 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Boosted by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Roth Capital lifted their FY2024 EPS estimates for Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now anticipates that the social networking company will earn $22.49 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate 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.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $381.16 and a one year high of $638.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $598.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $558.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $574.16, for a total transaction of $237,128.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,531.12. This represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 531,190 shares of company stock worth $322,938,501. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

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.