Erste Group Bank Lifts Earnings Estimates for Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Equities research analysts at Erste Group Bank upped their FY2027 EPS estimates for Microsoft in a research report issued on Tuesday, May 5th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the software giant will post earnings per share of $19.32 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $19.02. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $16.76 per share.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. New Street Research dropped their price target on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.44.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $420.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $396.79 and a 200-day moving average of $445.39. The company has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 500.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Street‑high analyst views and big upside targets are supporting the stock — at least one note sees ~60% upside and another firm raised its target to $870, boosting sentiment. MSFT price target article Arete Research boost
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying: Cryder Capital, Fisher Asset Management and others have added MSFT shares recently — an inflow signal that can prop up the stock. Cryder buy Fisher Asset boost
• Positive Sentiment: Product and go‑to‑market momentum: Dynamics 365 API integrations and partner wins (FPT Frontier designation) strengthen Azure/enterprise monetization and cross‑sell opportunities. Dynamics 365 API Integration FPT Frontier Partner
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/market commentary: Paul Tudor Jones warns the AI‑led bull market may have “another two years” before a major correction — a cautionary note that can increase volatility but isn’t MSFT‑specific. Paul Tudor Jones on AI market
• Neutral Sentiment: Workforce/ops moves: Microsoft rolled out voluntary retirement/buyout details — could cut long‑term costs but entails near‑term severance and program costs. Internal buyout offer
• Negative Sentiment: Margins and capex pressure: Analysts and reports flag temporary margin headwinds from heavy AI spending and a large capex guide — this is the primary near‑term risk to earnings and multiples. Margins headwind
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/ESG risk: Bloomberg/TechCrunch reports that Microsoft may delay or scale back its 2030 hourly clean‑energy matching target as AI data‑center growth raises power use — this creates regulatory, PR and investor‑sentiment risk. Clean energy target risks

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).