FY2024 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Reduced by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Tuesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst D. Mathivanan now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings of $22.70 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $22.73. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a “Overweight” rating and a $670.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $22.68 per share.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on META. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $610.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $592.65 and its 200 day moving average is $552.16. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $355.36 and a 52 week high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total transaction of $252,797.30. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,467,522.10. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.42, for a total value of $8,023,999.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 420,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,869,360.30. The trade was a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 410,536 shares of company stock worth $249,024,275. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.