Microsoft (MSFT) Set to Announce Earnings on Thursday

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) will be issuing its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $2.81 per share for the quarter. Microsoft has set its Q3 2024 guidance at EPS.Parties interested in listening to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

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

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $407.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $414.60 and a 200-day moving average of $386.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $275.37 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $434.05.

About Microsoft

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.