Roth Capital Raises Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Roth Capital upped their Q2 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report released on Wednesday, April 30th. Roth Capital analyst R. Kulkarni now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $6.08 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $5.34. Roth Capital has a “Buy” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q3 2025 earnings at $5.79 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.29 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $25.59 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $6.21 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $27.52 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.0 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $587.31 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $572.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $604.03.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 209,749 shares of company stock worth $148,089,532 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in 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. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is 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.