Zacks Research Raises Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research increased their FY2024 earnings estimates for Meta Platforms in a report released on Wednesday, November 20th. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now expects that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $22.40 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $20.67. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $22.62 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q4 2024 earnings at $6.50 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $5.34 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.13 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $24.31 EPS.

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

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $573.54 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $573.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $525.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 4,909 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.17, for a total value of $2,548,605.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 519,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,449,230. This trade represents a 0.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,018,473.83. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,656 shares of company stock worth $61,933,867. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.