Meta Platforms Q1 EPS Forecast Reduced by Seaport Res Ptn

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Analysts at Seaport Res Ptn cut their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Wednesday, January 29th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Kessler now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $5.18 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $5.47. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $25.44 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q2 2025 earnings at $5.86 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $6.16 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $8.18 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $29.65 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS.

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $689.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $387.10 and a one year high of $710.79. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $613.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $565.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total transaction of $602,730.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,510,470. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.