Q3 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Reduced by William Blair

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities researchers at William Blair cut their Q3 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 30th. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now forecasts that the social networking company will post earnings of $5.51 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $5.56. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q4 2025 earnings at $7.24 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $5.97 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $6.05 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.35 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $8.54 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on META. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $597.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $575.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $603.80. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $676.00, for a total transaction of $279,188.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,449 shares in the company, valued at $10,443,524. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 3.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.