Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Zacks Research cut their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Wednesday, May 21st. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now expects that the social networking company will earn $5.56 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $5.73. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' Q3 2025 earnings at $5.38 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $6.91 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $24.28 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.21 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.30 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $7.60 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $26.20 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $29.25 EPS.
Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Moffett Nathanson increased 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. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $701.05.
View Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
META traded up $1.47 on Monday, hitting $645.05. 8,853,767 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,469,156. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $578.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $610.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total value of $328,506.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,438 shares in the company, valued at $6,632,409.58. This represents a 4.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total transaction of $329,777.79. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,221 shares in the company, valued at $19,202,725.61. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,664 shares of company stock worth $35,484,670 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 26,312 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $15,406,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 12,415 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,269,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Meta Platforms
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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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