Microsoft - MSFT Stock Forecast, Price & News

Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. Its Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, as well as related Client Access Licenses (CAL); Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions. Its Intelligent Cloud segment licenses SQL, Windows Servers, Visual Studio, System Center, and related CALs; GitHub that provides a collaboration platform and code hosting service for developers; and Azure, a cloud platform. It also offers support services and Microsoft consulting services to assist customers in developing, deploying, and managing Microsoft server and desktop solutions; and training and certification on Microsoft products. Its More Personal Computing segment provides Windows original equipment manufacturer (OEM) licensing and other non-volume licensing of the Windows operating system; Windows Commercial, such as volume licensing of the Windows operating system, Windows cloud services, and other Windows commercial offerings; patent licensing; Windows Internet of Things; and MSN advertising. It also offers Surface, PC accessories, PCs, tablets, gaming and entertainment consoles, and other devices; Gaming, including Xbox hardware, and Xbox content and services; video games and third-party video game royalties; and Search, including Bing and Microsoft advertising. It sells its products through OEMs, distributors, and resellers; and directly through digital marketplaces, online stores, and retail stores. It has collaborations with Dynatrace, Inc., Morgan Stanley, Micro Focus, WPP plc, ACI Worldwide, Inc., and iCIMS, Inc., as well as strategic relationships with Avaya Holdings Corp. and wejo Limited. Microsoft Corporation was founded in 1975 and is based in Redmond, Washington.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Microsoft from $350.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. Cowen dropped their target price on Microsoft from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $349.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $334.31.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.7 %

MSFT Stock traded up $4.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $291.91. The stock had a trading volume of 22,619,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,222,438. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $241.51 and a 1-year high of $349.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $264.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The software giant reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.29 by ($0.06). Microsoft had a net margin of 36.69% and a return on equity of 43.31%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 17th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.73%.