Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Forecasted to Earn Q2 2023 Earnings of $2.56 Per Share

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 18th, 2023

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) – Equities researchers at Oppenheimer upped their Q2 2023 earnings per share estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research note issued on Tuesday, March 14th. Oppenheimer analyst J. Helfstein now expects that the social networking company will earn $2.56 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.18. Oppenheimer has a “Outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $9.95 per share. Oppenheimer also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q3 2023 earnings at $2.60 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $4.15 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $11.06 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $14.53 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $17.24 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.88. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 21.23% and a net margin of 19.90%. The firm had revenue of $32.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Cowen increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $170.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities raised Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $150.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.27.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $195.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $507.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.18. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $88.09 and a 52-week high of $236.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $166.42 and its 200-day moving average is $140.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.44, for a total value of $39,822.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,364.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.44, for a total value of $39,822.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,364.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Marne L. Levine sold 23,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.00, for a total value of $4,453,547.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,976. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 68,342 shares of company stock valued at $12,285,012. Company insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.92% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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Meta Platforms, Inc, engages in the development of social media applications. It builds technology that helps people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. It operates through the Family of Apps (FoA) and Reality Labs (RL) segments. The FoA segment consists of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other services.