Zacks Research Forecasts Higher Earnings for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q3 2025 EPS estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, August 20th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings of $6.22 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $5.48. Zacks Research currently has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ Q4 2025 earnings at $7.55 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $27.33 EPS.

META has been the topic of a number of other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $754.10 on Monday. Meta Platforms has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $732.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $657.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 312,767 shares of company stock valued at $234,618,139. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $129,666,000 after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benchstone Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $23,749,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.