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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 27th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $373.00 to $330.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 27th. UBS Group set a $330.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 20th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, July 26th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $287.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $334.31.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $1.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $290.81. The stock had a trading volume of 98,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,024,359. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $241.51 and a 12 month high of $349.67.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 18th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.73%.