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

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Research analysts at Wedbush lowered their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research report issued to clients and investors 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 $20.18 per share.

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen dropped 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $443.29. 32,645,619 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,391,986. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $495.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $403.40.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. 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 currently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 65,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.50, for a total value of $26,272,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total transaction of $2,600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,574,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 over the last three months. 13.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.