DA Davidson Research Analysts Decrease Earnings Estimates for Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Stock analysts at DA Davidson lowered their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Microsoft in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, July 31st. DA Davidson analyst G. Luria now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings of $13.00 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $13.17. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $13.17 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Microsoft’s FY2026 earnings at $15.48 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $487.33.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.35 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.22, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $440.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $421.43.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.13% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Rebalance LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innova Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend 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.