DA Davidson Weighs in on Meta Platforms, Inc.’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Analysts at DA Davidson issued their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, September 11th. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria expects that the social networking company will earn $5.25 per share for the quarter. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $21.36 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2024 earnings at $21.45 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $24.56 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis.

META has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $524.62 on Friday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $544.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $505.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $495.37.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Trust raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 3,267 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 46.4% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,023,000 after acquiring an additional 3,158 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $213,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $105,117,000. Finally, Creekside Partners bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $327,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total value of $1,029,156.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 253,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,765,650. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total transaction of $1,029,156.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,765,650. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

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.