Erste Group Bank Forecasts Increased Earnings for Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Research analysts at Erste Group Bank boosted their FY2028 EPS estimates for Microsoft in a research note issued to investors on Friday, September 18th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the software giant will post earnings of $23.51 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $23.38. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $19.61 per share.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS.

MSFT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $567.07.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.6%

Microsoft stock opened at $501.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $469.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $423.62. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,338,370,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $18,306,443,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $6,928,664,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $5,653,812,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher Azure prices could support growth and margins. BNP Paribas said Microsoft may gain another growth lever as higher Azure prices are introduced to renewing customers, assigning a $549 price target. Microsoft’s Azure Has Another Growth Lever Waiting in the Wings, Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their outlooks on AI demand. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted its Microsoft price target from $522 to $608 and maintained an overweight rating, citing opportunities in AI and cybersecurity. Erste Group also raised its earnings estimates. Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Microsoft Price Target to $608
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains substantial. Microsoft and Anthropic reportedly represent $87.7 billion of the $103 billion contract backlog at AI infrastructure provider Nscale, highlighting the scale of enterprise AI spending and potential Azure demand. Microsoft and Anthropic dominate Nscale’s contract backlog
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder-return and valuation support added to the bullish case. Bill Ackman described Microsoft as a core holding after building a roughly $2.4 billion position, while Microsoft’s dividend increase and strong software franchise were cited as additional attractions.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is adding a fourth cloud region in Hyderabad, improving geographic resilience, although the company provided no site-level capacity or investment details. Satya Nadella’s expected attendance at a Trump-Xi state dinner could provide diplomatic visibility but has limited direct financial impact.
• Negative Sentiment: Copyright and AI-regulation concerns remain overhangs. Publisher testimony in ongoing copyright disputes has intensified questions about whether AI products substitute for original content. Microsoft executives have also warned that divergent AI rules could affect industry economics. Microsoft Slips as AI Testimony Sharpens Copyright Risk
• Negative Sentiment: New gaming-advertising initiatives generated investor skepticism. A patent covering contextual in-game advertisements raised concerns about user experience and monetization strategy. Microsoft Stock Slips on Xbox Patent for Ads in Video Games
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are weighing elevated AI capital spending, cloud-security concerns following the Hugging Face incident and the possibility that expectations are already priced in after Microsoft’s powerful summer advance. Redburn’s lower $440 target underscores the disagreement over valuation.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.