FY2025 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Increased by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson upped their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report issued on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria now forecasts that the social networking company will earn $28.80 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $24.68. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $25.44 per share.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $689.18 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $613.60 and a 200-day moving average of $567.04. Meta Platforms has a 52 week low of $387.10 and a 52 week high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share.

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 issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total transaction of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.