Analysts Issue Forecasts for Meta Platforms Q1 Earnings

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Seaport Res Ptn issued their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Meta Platforms in a report issued on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Kessler expects that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $5.47 for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $21.47 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q2 2025 earnings at $6.05 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $6.39 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $7.86 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on META. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.37.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $567.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $296.86 and a twelve month high of $602.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $555.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $512.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 36.26% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after buying an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,582,876,000 after buying an additional 342,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,573 shares of company stock worth $133,019,910 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

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.