Meta Platforms Q1 EPS Estimate Lowered by Zacks Research

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 19th. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now forecasts that the social networking company will post earnings of $5.29 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $5.34. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q1 2026 earnings at $6.18 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $657.50 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $648.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $594.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $1,785,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $468,000. Armis Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $912,000. Chokshi & Queen Wealth Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $2,006,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 6,320 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,701,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total value of $238,503.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,068,173.34. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 3,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.10, for a total value of $2,469,975.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock worth $525,534,818. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

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.