FY2025 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Increased by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Analysts at DA Davidson increased their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria now forecasts that the social networking company will earn $28.80 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $24.68. DA Davidson currently has a “Buy” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $25.94 per share.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on META. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $704.19 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $618.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $570.21. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its 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 last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. This represents a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $2,918,698.12. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 8,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,943,375.40. The trade was a 37.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 673,878 shares of company stock valued at $416,269,904. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.