DA Davidson Comments on Meta Platforms Q2 Earnings

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson issued their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria forecasts that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $5.63 for the quarter. DA Davidson has a “Buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2026 earnings at $25.60 EPS.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $597.02 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $575.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $603.62. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,488,983.09. The trade was a 3.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock valued at $167,207,524. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.