William Blair Predicts Weaker Earnings for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Analysts at William Blair lowered their Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a note issued to investors on Thursday, January 30th. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $7.33 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $7.85. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $25.44 per share.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $689.18 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $613.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $566.31. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $387.10 and a 1-year high of $710.79.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 39.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creekside Partners purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $327,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 20,112 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,141,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 75.1% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 23,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $11,720,000 after buying an additional 9,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,925,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total value of $511,497.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,360,833.70. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total value of $24,195,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

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.