Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.39 EPS

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39, reports. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms updated its Q2 2024 guidance to EPS.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $442.37 on Friday. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $229.85 and a twelve month high of $531.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $495.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $403.40. 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 market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid 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 yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total value of $228,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,026,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the first quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 435 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Wealth Partners Inc increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.