Meta Platforms (META) Expected to Announce Earnings on Wednesday

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is expected to be issuing its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, January 29th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $6.75 per share and revenue of $46,963,410.95 billion for the quarter. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2024 guidance at EPS.Individual that wish to register for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, analysts expect Meta Platforms to post $23 EPS for the current fiscal year and $26 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $659.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $604.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $561.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $387.10 and a 52 week high of $663.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on META. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $700.00 target price (up from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,663,600. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 603,032 shares of company stock valued at $368,666,614. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.