Wedbush Brokers Lower Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Analysts at Wedbush cut their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now forecasts that the social networking company will earn $4.90 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $5.44. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $770.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $25.44 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q2 2025 earnings at $5.76 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $6.02 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.25 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $23.93 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $25.93 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on META. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3 %

META opened at $689.18 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization 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 fifty day moving average price of $613.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $567.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.