Q2 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Lifted by Zacks Research

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, February 19th. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $5.73 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $5.72. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms' current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms' Q3 2025 earnings at $6.27 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.64 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $24.94 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.59 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $8.23 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $27.96 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $30.97 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business posted $5.33 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on META. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $11.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $683.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,609,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,022,064. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $647.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $590.57. 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 has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $21,362,687. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock valued at $523,808,864 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.