Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27, Zacks reports. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. Meta Platforms updated its Q1 2025 guidance to EPS.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of META stock traded up $2.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $676.49. The stock had a trading volume of 20,552,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,885,814. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $606.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $562.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $387.10 and a 52-week high of $682.58.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’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 value of $23,160,423.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 602,612 shares of company stock valued at $368,414,542 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $655.41.

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.