Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Posted by Joseph Casey on Jan 25th, 2023

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The software giant reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.05, RTT News reports. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.37% and a return on equity of 42.10%. The business had revenue of $52.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $232.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $213.43 and a 12 month high of $315.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $241.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.53.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 15th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $212.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $275.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 26th. Credit Suisse Group set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $280.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $265.00 to $247.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 24,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.27, for a total value of $6,139,094.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 150,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,152,450.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 411 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. now owns 522 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Dravo Bay LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $185,000. Finally, Arena Capital Advisors LLC CA bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $200,000. 69.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Microsoft

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Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.