Meta Platforms (META) Set to Announce Earnings on Wednesday

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is scheduled to post its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, October 30th. Analysts expect Meta Platforms to post earnings of $5.15 per share for the quarter. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2024 guidance at EPS.Individual interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Meta Platforms to post $21 EPS for the current fiscal year and $24 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ META opened at $573.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $551.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $510.65. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 10.21%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.70, for a total value of $520,103.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,612,808.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 250,817 shares of company stock worth $132,547,715 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $621.63.

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.