Meta Platforms, Inc. to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $4.61 Per Share, William Blair Forecasts (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities researchers at William Blair boosted their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Wednesday, April 24th. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $4.61 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $4.60. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $20.18 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2024 earnings at $19.17 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $5.11 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $5.11 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $5.38 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $6.39 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $22.00 EPS.

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

Several other research firms have also issued reports on META. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $443.29 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $494.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $404.27. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.