Wedbush Equities Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Stock analysts at Wedbush increased their FY2024 earnings estimates for Microsoft in a research report issued on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings per share of $11.74 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $11.59. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $11.71 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.89 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $3.17 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.31 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.32 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $13.29 EPS.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Financial Security Advisor Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,255,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,497,000 after buying an additional 5,366 shares during the period. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after buying an additional 6,484 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 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.