Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Forecasted to Earn FY2024 Earnings of $11.71 Per Share

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research boosted their FY2024 EPS estimates for Microsoft in a research report issued on Thursday, May 16th. Zacks Research analyst V. Sawalka now expects that the software giant will earn $11.71 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $11.59. The consensus estimate for Microsoft's current full-year earnings is $11.76 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Microsoft's Q4 2024 earnings at $2.85 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $3.07 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.18 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.22 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.38 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $12.86 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $3.49 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.71 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.78 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $14.95 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on MSFT. Barclays boosted their price target on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie boosted their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $454.70.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2 %

Microsoft stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $420.21. The stock had a trading volume of 15,331,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,472,498. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $414.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $395.31. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Bellevue Group AG increased its holdings in Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 25.97%.

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.