Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $1.27 EPS

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27, Zacks reports. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Meta Platforms updated its Q1 2025 guidance to EPS.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $2.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $676.49. The stock had a trading volume of 20,552,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,885,814. The company has a market cap of $1.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $387.10 and a fifty-two week high of $682.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $606.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $562.78.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.76, for a total value of $23,160,423.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 602,612 shares of company stock worth $368,414,542. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $655.41.

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.