Meta Platforms (META) Projected to Post Earnings on Wednesday

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) is projected to issue its Q1 2025 quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, April 30th. Analysts expect Meta Platforms to post earnings of $5.33 per share and revenue of $41.45 billion for the quarter. Meta Platforms has set its Q1 2025 guidance at EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Meta Platforms to post $27 EPS for the current fiscal year and $30 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded up $12.88 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $533.15. 13,724,832 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,802,280. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $594.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $605.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total value of $23,160,423.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 343,068 shares of company stock valued at $237,676,335. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Meta Platforms stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.6% of Revolve Wealth Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $676.55.

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.