Wedbush Forecasts Meta Platforms’ Q4 Earnings (NASDAQ:META)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) – Analysts at Wedbush lowered their Q4 2025 earnings estimates for Meta Platforms in a report released on Tuesday, April 15th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now expects that the social networking company will earn $6.76 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $7.25. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Meta Platforms’ FY2026 earnings at $25.05 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $684.10.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of META stock opened at $501.48 on Thursday. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.96, 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $608.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $606.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 0.42%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,663,600. This represents a 2.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 379,901 shares of company stock valued at $260,806,516 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 worth $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew 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 purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,633,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,704,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.