FY2027 EPS Estimates for Meta Platforms Boosted by Analyst

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Stock analysts at Erste Group Bank boosted their FY2027 earnings estimates for shares of Meta Platforms in a report issued on Monday, July 27th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $35.13 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $34.92. Erste Group Bank currently has a “Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $29.51 per share.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on META. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $593.41 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $603.98 and a 200-day moving average of $624.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during 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 last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,608,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,859 shares of company stock worth $23,087,979. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive ahead of earnings. Erste Group Bank raised its FY2027 EPS forecast to $35.13 from $34.92 and maintained a Buy rating, while Guggenheim reaffirmed its Buy rating with an $800 price target. Guggenheim rating reference
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising business is expected to benefit from stronger user engagement, higher ad impressions, improved AI targeting and pricing power. Investors are also watching for updates on Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and the rollout of Meta AI in Threads direct messages. Meta advertising earnings preview
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and BlackRock formed a venture to develop a roughly $14 billion, one-gigawatt AI data-center campus in El Paso, Texas. The partnership may reduce Meta’s near-term balance-sheet burden by sharing construction financing while securing additional computing capacity. Meta BlackRock data center article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg supported open-weight AI models and argued that the U.S. should not broadly restrict Chinese AI models, positioning the company on the side of fewer regulatory limits but potentially increasing political scrutiny. Zuckerberg AI policy article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are increasingly concerned that Meta’s projected $125 billion-to-$145 billion AI capital-spending program could pressure free cash flow and operating margins. The BlackRock data-center arrangement shares financing risk but does not eliminate long-term lease, depreciation and residual-value obligations. Meta AI data center financing article
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest has reportedly increased ahead of earnings, reflecting expectations for a volatile post-report move and concern that a strong quarterly beat may not offset weaker guidance on AI spending. Meta also faces extensive social-media litigation, including allegations that it disregarded research concerning harm to teenagers. Meta Tennessee litigation article
• Negative Sentiment: Meta COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Although the sales were scheduled, the transactions may add to investor caution before earnings.

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.