Q4 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Lowered by William Blair

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities researchers at William Blair decreased their Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Meta Platforms in a note issued to investors on Thursday, January 30th. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now forecasts that the social networking company will earn $7.33 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $7.85. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $25.44 per share.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on META. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ META 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $613.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $565.78. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $387.10 and a 12 month high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.74% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 EPS.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at $17,360,833.70. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.