Griffin Securities Expects Increased Earnings for Microsoft

Key Points

• Griffin Securities has raised its Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimate for Microsoft to $3.61, an increase from a previous estimate of $3.48.
• Multiple analysts have boosted their price targets for Microsoft, with Piper Sandler and BMO Capital Markets setting new targets of $650.00, reflecting strong market confidence.
• Microsoft has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, which is a rise from its prior dividend of $0.83, demonstrating continued financial strength.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Griffin Securities lifted their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Microsoft in a report issued on Sunday, October 5th. Griffin Securities analyst J. Vleeschhouwer now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings of $3.61 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $3.48. The consensus estimate for Microsoft's current full-year earnings is $13.08 per share. Griffin Securities also issued estimates for Microsoft's Q2 2026 earnings at $3.79 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.67 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.93 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $15.00 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $4.09 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $4.24 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $16.84 EPS.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Melius Research increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $618.47.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $523.98 on Wednesday. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $513.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $469.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ignite Planners LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 27,973 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,489,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Balefire LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.5% during the third quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 17,928 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,286,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412 shares during the period. Trinity Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.3% in the third quarter. Trinity Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,232 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% in the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 10,988 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,691,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sendero Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.7% in the third quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,385 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,205,000 after acquiring an additional 8,062 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Microsoft

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.

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