Wedbush Analysts Reduce Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities researchers at Wedbush reduced their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now expects that the social networking company will earn $4.43 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $4.86. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $480.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $20.33 per share.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on META. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $443.29 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $494.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $404.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 32.03% 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.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $3,156,000. Tenon Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $239,000. Guardian Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $221,000. Treasure Coast Financial Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Finer Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Finer Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,558 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,583,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 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 $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.