Microsoft (MSFT) Scheduled to Post Earnings on Thursday

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is set to post its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect Microsoft to post earnings of $2.81 per share for the quarter. Microsoft has set its Q3 2024 guidance at EPS.Investors that are interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Microsoft to post $12 EPS for the current fiscal year and $13 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $411.84 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $415.48 and a 200-day moving average of $384.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $275.37 and a 1-year high of $430.82.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Bellevue Group AG acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 534.5% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $601,000. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MSFT shares. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $431.03.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.