Analysts Set Expectations for Meta Platforms, Inc.'s FY2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald issued their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, September 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst D. Mathivanan forecasts that the social networking company will earn $22.38 per share for the year. Cantor Fitzgerald has a "Overweight" rating and a $660.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $21.30 per share.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on META. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $576.66.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ META traded down $16.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $500.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,726,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,876,303. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $505.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $493.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total transaction of $8,404,112.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,478 shares in the company, valued at $151,697,700.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. 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 16,702 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total value of $8,404,112.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 301,478 shares in the company, valued at $151,697,700.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 390,977 shares of company stock valued at $202,384,548. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th 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. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.