Zacks Research Expects Weaker Earnings for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, February 19th. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings of $5.29 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $5.34. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q1 2026 earnings at $6.18 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on META. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of META opened at $683.62 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $647.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $591.96. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.36%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total value of $511,596.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,362,687. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total value of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 809,804 shares of company stock valued at $523,576,440 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of META. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 37,351 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $21,869,000 after buying an additional 3,939 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,212 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Perennial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,294,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $303,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.