Seaport Res Ptn Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Investment analysts at Seaport Res Ptn upped their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued on Wednesday, July 31st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Kessler now forecasts that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $5.19 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $4.75. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $20.50 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q4 2024 earnings at $6.44 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $21.54 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $24.30 EPS.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $572.51.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $494.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $274.38 and a 52-week high of $542.81. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $494.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $481.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $190,756.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,559 shares in the company, valued at $2,573,817. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 310,671 shares of company stock valued at $154,419,524 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.