Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Expected to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $4.35 Per Share

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Wedbush boosted their Q1 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report released on Thursday, April 11th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $4.35 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $4.10. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $520.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $20.06 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q2 2024 earnings at $5.01 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $20.40 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META stock opened at $499.76 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $493.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $396.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $516.51, for a total transaction of $253,089.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,069 shares in the company, valued at $4,167,719.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,439,788 shares of company stock worth $684,542,792. 14.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

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.