Cantor Fitzgerald Forecasts Meta Platforms FY2025 Earnings

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report issued on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst D. Mathivanan now expects that the social networking company will post earnings of $24.45 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $25.20. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a “Overweight” rating and a $790.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $25.44 per share.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.76.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $689.18 on Friday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $387.10 and a 1-year high of $710.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $613.60 and a 200-day moving average of $566.31.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock valued at $407,745,741 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 42,603 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,615 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,259 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 17,452 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,218,000 after purchasing an additional 4,008 shares during the period. Allied Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 489 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,301,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.