DA Davidson Issues Positive Estimate for Microsoft Earnings

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Stock analysts at DA Davidson increased their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Microsoft in a report issued on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings per share of $16.17 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $14.97. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $13.08 per share.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $630.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Melius Research increased their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $634.67.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2%

MSFT stock opened at $517.03 on Monday. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $514.07 and a 200 day moving average of $489.41.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 228.1% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Jim Saulnier & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 11.1% in the third quarter. Jim Saulnier & Associates LLC now owns 1,977 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.2% in the third quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 15,466 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares in the last quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the third quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,248 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,775,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

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.