FY2024 EPS Estimates for Microsoft Co. Increased by William Blair (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Analysts at William Blair raised their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Microsoft in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, April 26th. William Blair analyst J. Ader now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings per share of $11.79 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $11.58. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $11.71 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.94 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.23 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $15.09 EPS.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $389.33 on Monday. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $303.40 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $414.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $389.44.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

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.