FY2027 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Boosted by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Stock analysts at Erste Group Bank boosted their FY2027 EPS estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $34.33 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $34.20. Erste Group Bank currently has a “Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.02 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $885.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $846.63.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $525.72 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $643.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $667.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.30.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 162,484 shares of company stock valued at $104,015,906 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,112,735,000 after acquiring an additional 310,947 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Entergy revised its Louisiana data-center deal with Meta so Meta will pay full cost-of-service and fund local energy upgrades (including seven natural‑gas plants), reducing project/regulatory risk for the hyperscale build. Entergy revised Meta data-center deal (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Some sell‑the‑news rhetoric has created value opportunities: analysts point to cheaper valuation metrics and upgraded EPS forecasts, with commentators highlighting potential cost-savings from restructuring. Meta Platforms: Lean Into The Fear (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is aggressively doubling down on AI infrastructure (Arm CPU initiative, large new data‑center programs) — a long‑term strategic positive for AI monetization but a near‑term cash drain that fuels investor uncertainty. Meta deepens AI strategy with new Arm CPU initiative (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta paid its first 2026 dividend ($0.525/share) — a modest income signal to investors but not material to the valuation story. Meta paid dividend (Finbold)
• Negative Sentiment: Two recent jury verdicts (including a $375M award and punitive damages from a social‑media addiction case) have raised the prospect of broader legal liability, regulatory changes and appeals that could increase future costs and compliance expenses. Meta shares slip after US jury verdicts (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: Meta joins a tech selloff this week (Nasdaq weakness), with share price declines of double‑digit percentages from recent highs as investors factor in litigation risk and margin pressure from AI capex. Tech stocks suffer worst week in nearly a year (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Several outlets report steep intraday drops and heavy option activity as traders reposition; headlines argue the verdicts could trigger follow‑on litigation or regulatory remedies that resemble a “Big Tobacco”‑style reckoning. Meta stock plunges after lawsuit defeats (Blockonomi)

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.