Cantor Fitzgerald Expects Lower Earnings for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Meta Platforms in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, April 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst D. Mathivanan now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $22.64 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $24.69. Cantor Fitzgerald has a “Overweight” rating and a $624.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $684.10.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $501.48 on Friday. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $608.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $606.80.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 379,901 shares of company stock valued at $260,806,516. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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.