FY2027 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Increased by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank lifted their FY2027 EPS estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report released on Tuesday, May 5th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now forecasts that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $34.55 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $34.44. Erste Group Bank has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $29.67 per share.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $613.77 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $627.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $645.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 EPS.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 168,193 shares of company stock valued at $107,642,717 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after buying an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after buying an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,112,735,000 after buying an additional 310,947 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square is making a big public bet on Meta, highlighting activist/institutional conviction that could support the share price. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to point to Meta’s strong Q1 results (robust revenue and EPS beats) and some firms raising price targets, supporting a bullish thesis on ad growth + AI monetization. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Fisher Asset Management increased its Meta stake, signaling institutional buying interest that can prop up shares. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is actively competing in the new “agentic” AI race alongside Google, which supports the company’s long-term AI growth narrative and defense of future ad/AI revenue streams. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group slightly raised its FY2027 EPS forecast for Meta, but kept a Hold rating — a modest data point rather than a major catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan disclosed Rule 10b5‑1 stock sales; the trades were pre‑arranged and are unlikely to alter investor confidence materially. SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Mark Zuckerberg framed recent layoffs as a line item in Meta’s $125–$145B AI infrastructure plan underline investor worries about large, sustained capex and execution risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta asked a California judge to throw out a landmark social‑media addiction verdict, keeping legal overhang and headline risk in play. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some firms (e.g., Mizuho) have trimmed expectations or expressed caution, reflecting near‑term valuation and execution concerns that pressure sentiment. Article Title

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.