Analysts Issue Forecasts for Meta Platforms Q1 Earnings

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities researchers at Roth Capital lowered their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report issued on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings of $5.45 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $5.64. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $25.94 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q2 2025 earnings at $5.93 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $6.03 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $25.07 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 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 prior year, the company earned $5.33 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on META. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $710.83.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ META opened at $704.19 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $618.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $570.21. Meta Platforms has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $710.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 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 worth $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,437 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 673,878 shares of company stock worth $416,269,904 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 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.