Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) – Equities researchers at Erste Group Bank raised their FY2026 earnings estimates for Meta Platforms in a report released on Tuesday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the social networking company will post earnings per share of $29.60 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $29.54. Erste Group Bank has a “Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Meta Platforms’ current full-year earnings is $26.70 per share.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 earnings per share.
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Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of META stock opened at $547.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $645.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $668.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.30. Meta Platforms has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of META. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $366,571.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,797,952.54. The trade was a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total transaction of $560,581.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,335 shares in the company, valued at $8,072,742.30. This trade represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 162,484 shares of company stock valued at $104,015,906. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.94%.
Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Meta is accelerating its AI infrastructure build — raising investment in its West Texas (El Paso) AI data center to ~$10 billion, which supports long?term product and margin potential. Meta boosts investment in West Texas AI data center by over sixfold to $10 billion
- Positive Sentiment: Partnerships and hardware moves de?risk Meta’s AI roadmap — Meta is named as lead partner on Arm’s new AGI CPU effort, which could lower infrastructure costs and lock in scale advantages. Arm’s New Gambit: Building Chips to Challenge the AI Titans
- Neutral Sentiment: Meta paid a small dividend (annual yield ~0.38%), a modest cash return but unlikely to materially change investor sentiment amid bigger legal/capex headlines. Meta stock just paid dividends; here’s how much investors received
- Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling disclosed (COO Javier Olivan sold shares), a routine filing but one more datapoint for traders watching insider activity. (SEC filing referenced in company disclosure.)
- Negative Sentiment: Two high?profile court defeats this week (New Mexico child?safety ruling and a Los Angeles social?media addiction trial) have increased perceived legal and regulatory risk, produced multi?hundred?million damage awards so far and sparked fears of follow?on suits and remedies that could change product design or add costs. Meta Platforms (META) Stock Plunges 8% Following Dual Child Safety Lawsuit Defeats
- Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: shares dropped sharply on the rulings, pressuring capitalization and prompting commentary about a “Big Tobacco”?style legal overhang and potential changes to tech liability protections — a structural risk for valuation multiple. Meta shares slip after US jury verdicts raise concerns of new legal exposure
- Negative Sentiment: Large capex and restructuring headlines (very high 2026 CapEx guidance and reported layoffs / exec stock awards tied to aggressive valuation targets) are fueling uncertainty about near?term free cash flow, dilution and execution risk as Meta pivots heavily to AI. As Meta sheds $119 billion in market cap, has the stock become ‘uninvestable’?
About Meta Platforms
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.
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