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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Analysts at Roth Capital increased their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, April 25th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings of $4.96 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate 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.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 target price (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $443.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $229.85 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The stock 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $494.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $404.27.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 over the last ninety days. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.