FY2024 EPS Estimate for Meta Platforms Boosted by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald increased their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report issued on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst D. Mathivanan now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings of $22.73 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $22.46. Cantor Fitzgerald has a “Overweight” rating and a $670.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $21.84 per share.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $560.68 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $313.66 and a 52-week high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $556.78 and its 200-day moving average is $513.67.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 6,534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $3,299,931.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,639,184.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 6,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $3,299,931.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 116,108 shares in the company, valued at $58,639,184.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,040 shares of company stock worth $132,361,588 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $46,000. 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.