Q3 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Raised by Roth Capital

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Roth Capital increased their Q3 2026 EPS estimates for Meta Platforms in a report issued on Tuesday, July 8th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $6.92 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $6.48. Roth Capital currently has a "Buy" rating and a $740.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' Q4 2026 earnings at $9.00 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $676.00 to $807.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $727.95.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $5.54 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $727.24. 9,905,148 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,503,230. Meta Platforms has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $669.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $632.53. The firm has a market cap of $1.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Opulen Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $325,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,397 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,989,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 153,792 shares of company stock worth $105,466,325. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's 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.