FY2025 EPS Estimate for Meta Platforms Boosted by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Investment analysts at DA Davidson increased their FY2025 earnings estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $24.46 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $24.40. DA Davidson currently has a "Buy" rating and a $650.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on META. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $11.96 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $587.31. 10,418,936 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,437,543. The business's 50-day moving average price is $573.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $604.15. 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 company has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,928,185,000 after buying an additional 204,412 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,114,906 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,249,931,000 after purchasing an additional 206,502 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 15,500 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $9,075,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 50,766 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $29,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 4,245 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at $19,607,740.16. This trade represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 222,724 shares of company stock valued at $157,259,224. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

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.