Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) – Analysts at Wedbush increased their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report released on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now anticipates that the social networking company will earn $5.80 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $5.53. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $22.96 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q3 2025 earnings at $6.03 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $24.71 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $27.86 EPS.
META has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $641.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $647.49 on Friday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $385.66 and a 1-year high of $652.00. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $601.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $560.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion.
Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third 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. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after acquiring an additional 118,298 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,101,602,000 after acquiring an additional 186,728 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.10, for a total transaction of $524,990.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,262,708.20. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.
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.
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