Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush lowered their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Meta Platforms in a report released on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $4.90 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $5.44. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $770.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $25.94 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q2 2025 earnings at $5.76 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $6.02 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.25 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $23.93 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $25.93 EPS.
Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on META. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $710.83.
Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0 %
Shares of META opened at $704.19 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $618.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $570.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $710.79. The company has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share.
Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $2,918,698.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 8,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,943,375.40. This trade represents a 37.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 673,878 shares of company stock valued at $416,269,904 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.36%.
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.
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