Meta Platforms (META) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is scheduled to be releasing its earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, April 24th. Analysts expect Meta Platforms to post earnings of $4.27 per share for the quarter. Meta Platforms has set its Q1 2024 guidance at EPS.Persons that wish to listen to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Meta Platforms to post $20 EPS for the current fiscal year and $23 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $481.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The business has a 50-day moving average of $494.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $401.23. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Raymond James upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.28.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total value of $7,722,037.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,391,935 shares of company stock worth $666,288,408 in the last three months. 14.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.