Q2 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Lifted by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn increased their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for Meta Platforms in a report released on Wednesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Kessler now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $6.16 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $5.86. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' Q4 2025 earnings at $7.99 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $26.58 EPS.

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

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $597.02 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $575.29 and a 200 day moving average of $603.99. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,001,044,000 after buying an additional 1,229,350 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,577 shares in the company, valued at $14,488,983.09. This represents a 3.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 223,629 shares of company stock valued at $157,894,751 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

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.

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