Seaport Res Ptn Boosts Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn boosted their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Kessler now forecasts that the social networking company will earn $6.16 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $5.86. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q4 2025 earnings at $7.99 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $26.58 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on META. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $587.31 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $572.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $604.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,577 shares in the company, valued at $14,488,983.09. This trade represents a 3.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 209,749 shares of company stock valued at $148,089,532. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,114,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,249,931,000 after buying an additional 206,502 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 15,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,075,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 50,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $29,724,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 4,245 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Meta Platforms

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.