Meta Platforms (META) Expected to Announce Earnings on Wednesday

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is expected to release its Q1 2025 earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, April 30th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $5.33 per share and revenue of $41.45 billion for the quarter. Meta Platforms has set its Q1 2025 guidance at EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts expect Meta Platforms to post $27 EPS for the current fiscal year and $30 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of META stock opened at $549.74 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $427.11 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $583.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $604.40.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,525,441.26. This represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 284,384 shares of company stock valued at $199,598,622 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Meta Platforms stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.6% of Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Pivotal Research upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $681.95.

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.