Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their FY2027 earnings estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report issued on Tuesday, May 5th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $34.55 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $34.44. Erste Group Bank currently has a "Hold" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $29.67 per share.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis.
META has been the topic of several other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (down from $880.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.31.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Shares of META opened at $613.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $627.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $645.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total value of $386,860.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,565,949. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total transaction of $562,767.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,779 shares in the company, valued at $4,727,609.46. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 168,193 shares of company stock worth $107,642,717. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Bayban grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
More Meta Platforms News
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman's Pershing Square is making a big public bet on Meta, highlighting activist/institutional conviction that could support the share price. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to point to Meta's strong Q1 results (robust revenue and EPS beats) and some firms raising price targets, supporting a bullish thesis on ad growth + AI monetization. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Fisher Asset Management increased its Meta stake, signaling institutional buying interest that can prop up shares. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Meta is actively competing in the new "agentic" AI race alongside Google, which supports the company's long-term AI growth narrative and defense of future ad/AI revenue streams. Article Title
- Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group slightly raised its FY2027 EPS forecast for Meta, but kept a Hold rating — a modest data point rather than a major catalyst. Article Title
- Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan disclosed Rule 10b5‑1 stock sales; the trades were pre‑arranged and are unlikely to alter investor confidence materially. SEC Filing
- Negative Sentiment: Reports that Mark Zuckerberg framed recent layoffs as a line item in Meta's $125–$145B AI infrastructure plan underline investor worries about large, sustained capex and execution risk. Article Title
- Negative Sentiment: Meta asked a California judge to throw out a landmark social‑media addiction verdict, keeping legal overhang and headline risk in play. Article Title
- Negative Sentiment: Some firms (e.g., Mizuho) have trimmed expectations or expressed caution, reflecting near‑term valuation and execution concerns that pressure sentiment. Article Title
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.
Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.
See Also
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Enter your email address and we’ll send you MarketBeat’s list of ten stocks set to soar in Spring 2026, despite the threat of tariffs and what's happening in Iran. These ten stocks are incredibly resilient and are likely to thrive in any economic environment.
Get This Free Report
