Brokers Issue Forecasts for Meta Platforms Q1 Earnings

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - DA Davidson issued their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria expects that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $5.45 for the quarter. DA Davidson has a "Buy" rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $25.44 per share.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on META. Truist Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $687.00 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $611.00 and a 200-day moving average of $564.44. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $387.10 and a twelve month high of $710.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $82,314,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, 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 value of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at $17,360,833.70. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.

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