DA Davidson Comments on Meta Platforms, Inc.’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities researchers at DA Davidson issued their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Meta Platforms in a report issued on Wednesday, September 11th. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria forecasts that the social networking company will post earnings of $5.25 per share for the quarter. DA Davidson currently has a “Buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $21.36 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2024 earnings at $21.45 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $24.56 EPS.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $525.60 on Friday. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $544.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The company has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.19, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $505.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $495.07.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,750 shares in the company, valued at $19,258,362.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total value of $449,775.95. Following the sale, the insider now owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,258,362.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.