Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13, Briefing.com reports. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company 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 posted $2.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft updated its Q4 2024 guidance to EPS.
Microsoft Price Performance
NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $10.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $409.38. The stock had a trading volume of 20,308,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,997,238. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $387.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $295.25 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays increased their price target on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $442.57.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft
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.
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