FY2025 EPS Estimate for Meta Platforms Increased by Analyst

Key Points

• DA Davidson analysts have increased their FY2025 earnings estimate for Meta Platforms to $26.85 per share, up from $24.46, while maintaining a "Buy" rating and a target price of $825.00.
• In their latest quarterly earnings, Meta Platforms reported $7.14 EPS, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $5.75, with revenues reaching $47.52 billion, surpassing expectations of $44.55 billion.
• The stock has received multiple target price upgrades from various analysts, with the highest target now reaching $900.00, while the overall consensus rating remains a "Moderate Buy."

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Research analysts at DA Davidson boosted their FY2025 earnings estimates for Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria now expects that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $26.85 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $24.46. DA Davidson currently has a "Buy" rating and a $825.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' FY2026 earnings at $27.50 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $750.01 on Monday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $701.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $646.12. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms has a 1 year low of $450.80 and a 1 year high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total value of $369,655.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,136,275. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $336,232.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,372 shares of company stock valued at $105,348,896 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $129,666,000 after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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