Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Issues Earnings Results

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.13% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft updated its Q1 2025 guidance to EPS.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $1.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $417.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 30,178,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,864,197. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Microsoft has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $440.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $421.43.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Microsoft stock. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 27.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $427,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $487.33.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.