Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $1.27 EPS

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27, Zacks reports. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.74% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Meta Platforms updated its Q1 2025 guidance to EPS.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of META traded up $13.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $700.55. 7,640,861 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,265,275. The business has a fifty day moving average of $611.00 and a 200-day moving average of $564.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $387.10 and a 1-year high of $710.79. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on META shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently 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.