Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) - Equities research analysts at William Blair reduced their FY2019 earnings estimates for shares of Microsoft Corporation in a report released on Friday. William Blair analyst J. Ader now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings of $3.47 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $3.57. William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The software giant reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $24.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.29 billion. Microsoft Corporation had a return on equity of 36.81% and a net margin of 23.57%. Microsoft Corporation’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share.
Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Credit Suisse Group began coverage on Microsoft Corporation in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. MKM Partners reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Microsoft Corporation in a research note on Sunday. J P Morgan Chase & Co set a $68.00 price objective on Microsoft Corporation and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.00 target price on Microsoft Corporation and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC set a $49.00 target price on Microsoft Corporation and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.83.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ MSFT) opened at 73.49 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $55.61 and a one year high of $74.30. The stock has a market cap of $566.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.84.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Microsoft Corporation’s payout ratio is presently 57.78%.
In other Microsoft Corporation news, Director William H. Gates III sold 2,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.40, for a total transaction of $173,500,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher C. Capossela sold 4,927 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.75, for a total transaction of $338,731.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 214,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,718,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,060,786 shares of company stock worth $831,893,332. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Hefty Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation by 65.6% in the second quarter. Hefty Wealth Partners now owns 1,648 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Services Ltd. raised its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation by 93.0% in the first quarter. Asset Planning Services Ltd. now owns 1,737 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Ullmann Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation during the first quarter worth about $132,000. Opera Trading Capital raised its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation by 1,522.0% in the second quarter. Opera Trading Capital now owns 2,433 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 2,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation during the fourth quarter worth about $155,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.74% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Corporation Company Profile
Microsoft Corporation is a technology company. The Company develops, licenses, and supports a range of software products, services and devices. The Company’s segments include Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud and More Personal Computing. The Company’s products include operating systems; cross-device productivity applications; server applications; business solution applications; desktop and server management tools; software development tools; video games, and training and certification of computer system integrators and developers.
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