Meta Platforms Q2 EPS Estimate Increased by William Blair

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Investment analysts at William Blair boosted their Q2 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a research report issued on Wednesday, April 30th. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings of $5.44 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $5.36. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2025 earnings at $24.61 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $26.91 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company 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%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $599.27 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $573.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $604.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total value of $9,169,692.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,588,349.12. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 222,724 shares of company stock worth $157,259,224 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,001,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,350 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.