Roth Capital Equities Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Stock analysts at Roth Capital boosted their Q2 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report issued on Thursday, April 25th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $4.96 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $4.79. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $20.18 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2024 earnings at $20.88 EPS.

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

META has been the subject of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 10.6 %

NASDAQ META opened at $441.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $208.88 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $495.08 and a 200-day moving average of $403.40.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,924,027.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.