Meta Platforms FY2025 EPS Forecast Reduced by DA Davidson

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Equities researchers at DA Davidson dropped their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report released on Tuesday, April 15th. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria now expects that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $24.40 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $28.80. DA Davidson has a "Buy" rating and a $650.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on META. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $684.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $501.48. 14,540,656 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,827,120. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $608.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $606.80. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 a total of 379,901 shares of company stock valued at $260,806,516 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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.