Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) will report $50.32 billion in sales for the current quarter, according to Zacks. Ten analysts have issued estimates for Microsoft's earnings, with estimates ranging from $46.92 billion to $51.36 billion. Microsoft reported sales of $43.08 billion in the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year over year growth rate of 16.8%. The business is scheduled to announce its next quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 25th.
According to Zacks, analysts expect that Microsoft will report full-year sales of $194.98 billion for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $186.80 billion to $198.48 billion. For the next financial year, analysts anticipate that the firm will report sales of $220.51 billion, with estimates ranging from $199.57 billion to $231.63 billion. Zacks' sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of research analysts that cover Microsoft.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 25th. The software giant reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.19. Microsoft had a return on equity of 45.80% and a net margin of 38.51%. The company had revenue of $45.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. The company's revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis.
Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $375.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Microsoft from $331.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 27th. Mizuho raised their price target on Microsoft from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 27th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Microsoft from $342.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Microsoft from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $349.63.
In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 419,292 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.61, for a total transaction of $144,492,216.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Teri List sold 1,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.90, for a total value of $552,585.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 530,699 shares of company stock valued at $181,312,457. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Syverson Strege & Co acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $72,000. Yale University acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $110,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $127,000. Finally, Cutler Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $163,000. Institutional investors own 69.05% of the company's stock.
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $336.32 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $332.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $304.78. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $211.94 and a twelve month high of $349.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 17th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 16th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.74%.
Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, September 14th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 2.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
About Microsoft
Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Productivity and Business Processes; Intelligent Cloud; and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment comprises products and services in the portfolio of productivity, communication, and information services of the company spanning a variety of devices and platform.
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