Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Expected to Post Quarterly Sales of $48.96 Billion

Wall Street brokerages predict that Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) will announce sales of $48.96 billion for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Twelve analysts have provided estimates for Microsoft’s earnings, with estimates ranging from $48.59 billion to $49.33 billion. Microsoft posted sales of $41.71 billion in the same quarter last year, which suggests a positive year over year growth rate of 17.4%. The business is expected to announce its next earnings results after the market closes on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Microsoft will report full year sales of $198.69 billion for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $197.11 billion to $199.64 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the firm will post sales of $226.18 billion, with estimates ranging from $222.14 billion to $231.79 billion. Zacks’ sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that follow Microsoft.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 25th. The software giant reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $51.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.80 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 45.73% and a net margin of 38.50%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 EPS.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $366.00 to $411.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Microsoft from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $360.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $400.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Microsoft from $376.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $357.68.

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $279.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $296.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $310.93. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $238.07 and a 1 year high of $349.67.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 18th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.41%.

In related news, Director Emma N. Walmsley bought 1,700 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $295.48 per share, with a total value of $502,316.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 27,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.64, for a total value of $8,487,270.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,836 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Osher Van de Voorde Investment Management raised its holdings in Microsoft by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Osher Van de Voorde Investment Management now owns 52,756 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,265,000 after acquiring an additional 2,813 shares during the last quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 50,547 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,585,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 22,644 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,981,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TPG Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. TPG Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,049 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. 69.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Microsoft (Get Rating)

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 consists of devices and platforms, including Office Commercial, Office Consumer, LinkedIn, and Dynamics business solutions.

See Also