Brokers Offer Predictions for Microsoft FY2026 Earnings

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald issued their FY2026 earnings estimates for Microsoft in a report released on Monday, June 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst T. Blakey expects that the software giant will post earnings per share of $15.19 for the year. Cantor Fitzgerald has a "Overweight" rating and a $512.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Microsoft's current full-year earnings is $13.08 per share.

MSFT has been the topic of several other reports. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.89.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $6.25 on Tuesday, hitting $478.87. The company had a trading volume of 18,858,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,506,984. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $480.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $423.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $417.84.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $259,539,471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,314,509 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,374,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306,485 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.