FY2024 Earnings Estimate for Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Issued By William Blair

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Stock analysts at William Blair lifted their FY2024 EPS estimates for Microsoft in a report released on Friday, April 26th. William Blair analyst J. Ader now expects that the software giant will post earnings per share of $11.79 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $11.58. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $11.71 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.94 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.23 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $15.09 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Macquarie lifted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $402.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $303.40 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $414.45 and a 200-day moving average of $389.01.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% during the third quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.8% during the third quarter. Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Stordahl Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% in the third quarter. Stordahl Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,742 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 14,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,537,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

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.