Cantor Fitzgerald Forecasts Meta Platforms FY2024 Earnings

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald cut their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst D. Mathivanan now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $22.67 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $22.70. Cantor Fitzgerald has a “Overweight” rating and a $720.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $22.96 per share. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2025 earnings at $25.20 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on META. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $654.20.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $647.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 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. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $385.66 and a fifty-two week high of $652.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $601.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $560.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

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.