DA Davidson Boosts Earnings Estimates for Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Research analysts at DA Davidson boosted their FY2026 earnings estimates for Meta Platforms in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria now forecasts that the social networking company will earn $30.63 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $27.50. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on META. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $915.00 to $850.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.7%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $648.35 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $738.28 and a 200-day moving average of $699.34.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of META. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $768.67, for a total value of $12,181,113.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 181,971 shares of company stock valued at $140,461,589. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

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.