Q2 2024 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Boosted by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities research analysts at Roth Capital increased their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Thursday, April 25th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now forecasts that the social networking company will post earnings of $4.96 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $4.79. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $20.18 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2024 earnings at $20.88 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on META. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $443.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $229.85 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $494.48 and a 200 day moving average of $404.27.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. 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 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total value of $253,697.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at $3,924,027.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,747 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,226,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 28.0% in the third quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 21.7% in the third quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $530,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.3% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 7,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richelieu Gestion SA raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 29.1% in the third quarter. Richelieu Gestion SA now owns 2,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.