Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13, Briefing.com reports. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft updated its Q4 2024 guidance to EPS.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $9.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $408.47. 20,825,009 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,004,221. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. Microsoft has a one year low of $295.25 and a one year high of $430.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.96, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $414.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $387.17.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Macquarie raised their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $443.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.