Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.98

Key Points

• Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, up 7.7% from $0.91. Shareholders of record on November 19 will be paid on December 10, with an annualized yield of approximately 0.8%.
• The company has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years, and its 24.1% payout ratio indicates strong earnings coverage. Analysts expect a future payout ratio of about 15.6% based on projected earnings.
• Microsoft recently exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $4.74 in quarterly EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $564.27.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.98 per share by the software giant on Thursday, December 10th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is a 7.7% increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91.

Microsoft has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 23 consecutive years. Microsoft has a payout ratio of 24.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Microsoft to earn $23.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.6%.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $497.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $460.39 and a 200-day moving average of $420.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Evercore set a $528.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $564.27.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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