Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $4.61 Per Share, William Blair Forecasts

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – William Blair raised their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued on Wednesday, April 24th. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now expects that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $4.61 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $4.60. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $20.18 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2024 earnings at $19.17 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $5.11 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $5.11 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $5.38 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $6.39 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $22.00 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 target price (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $441.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $495.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $403.40. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $208.88 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The company has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $11,285,855,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,251 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio 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.