Wedbush Has Positive Outlook for Meta Platforms Q2 Earnings

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Analysts at Wedbush increased their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, July 17th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $5.57 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $5.44. Wedbush has a "Outperform" rating and a $750.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' Q3 2025 earnings at $5.62 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.11 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $24.73 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $26.59 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $736.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $2.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $704.28. 12,743,944 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,339,592. The company's fifty day moving average is $686.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $637.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.30%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 153,764 shares of company stock valued at $105,721,208. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.