Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Microsoft Corporation was founded in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The two quit their respective Harvard schooling and programming jobs to start a software company focused on the then-popular Altair 8800. Originally named Micro-Soft, Microsoft is a portmanteau of the words microprocessor and software. The company quickly took off and was relocated to Washington State where it is headquartered today.

Microsoft launched a game called Flight Simulator in 1982 that has since become the longest-running video game franchise. The company’s first major breakthrough came in the early 80s when it licensed MS-DOS to IBM for their personal computer and then another came in 1985 the company altered the way computers were used when it launched Windows. Windows used a graphical interface to display information that included drop-down menus, scroll bars, and other features commonly found in operating systems today.

Microsoft went public in 1986 making founder Bill Gates the world’s youngest billionaire. Other innovations that helped make the company’s name include Windows 95 which included many upgrades to the original and, when the Internet took off, Internet Explorer. Bill Gates gave up his role as CEO in 2000 and the company is now run by Satya Nadella. Mr. Nadella took over the role of CEO in 2014 and then the role of chairman in 2021.

Today the company develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments that include Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. As of 2022, Microsoft’s Azure powered more than 20% of the Cloud putting it in second place globally.

The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers several software solutions including Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business. Microsoft also operates Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn for business professionals as well as Dynamics 365. Dynamics 365 is a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprises of all sizes.

The Intelligent Cloud segment licenses SQL, Windows Servers, Visual Studio, System Center, and related Client Access Licenses. Microsoft Intelligent Cloud also operates GitHub which is a collaboration platform and code hosting service for developers. Intelligent Cloud also hosts Nuance healthcare and enterprise AI solutions, and Azure, a cloud platform, as well as associated services.

The More Personal Computing segment provides Windows original equipment manufacturer (OEM) licensing and other licensing of the Windows family of operating systems. This includes Windows Commercial, Windows cloud services, and Windows Internet of Things.

The More Personal Computing segment also offers Surface, PC accessories, PCs, tablets, gaming and entertainment consoles, Xbox hardware, and Xbox content and services including video games and third-party video game royalties. The company sells its products through OEMs, distributors, and resellers; and directly through digital marketplaces, online stores, and retail stores.

Written by Jeffrey Neal Johnson

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $446.16 to $452.65
• 50-Day Range: $406.35 to $454.46
• 52-Week Range: $366.50 to $468.35
• Volume: 9.45 million shs
• Average Volume: 20.52 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $3.34 trillion
• P/E Ratio: 37.03
• Dividend Yield: 0.74%
• Price Target: $508.46
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Microsoft Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Microsoft scored higher than 97% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 27th out of 664 stocks in the computer and technology sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.5 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Microsoft has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.93, and is based on 26 buy ratings, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Microsoft has been the subject of 18 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 14.31%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Microsoft are expected to grow by 14.31% in the coming year, from $12.93 to $14.78 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Microsoft is 37.03, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 135.02.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Microsoft is 37.03, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Computer and Technology sector average P/E ratio of about 272.30.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Microsoft has a PEG Ratio of 2.38. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Microsoft has a P/B Ratio of 12.43. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

0.86% of the float of Microsoft has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Microsoft has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.1, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Microsoft has recently increased by 12.62%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Yield

Microsoft has a dividend yield of 0.74%, which is in the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Microsoft does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Microsoft is 27.39%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Microsoft will have a dividend payout ratio of 22.46% next year. This indicates that Microsoft will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 2.9 / 5
• Environmental Score: -0.75

Percentage of Shares Shorted

0.86% of the float of Microsoft has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Microsoft has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.1, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Microsoft has recently increased by 12.62%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.8 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.82

News Sentiment

Microsoft has a news sentiment score of 0.82. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.61 average news sentiment score of Computer and Technology companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 191 news articles for Microsoft this week, compared to 106 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

1536 people have searched for MSFT on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 8% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

689 people have added Microsoft to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 17% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Microsoft insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $17,383,892.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 0.03% of the stock of Microsoft is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

71.13% of the stock of Microsoft is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

MSFT Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have MSFT shares performed this year?

Microsoft's stock was trading at $376.04 at the beginning of 2024. Since then, MSFT shares have increased by 19.4% and is now trading at $448.82.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were Microsoft's earnings last quarter?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October, 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis.
Read the conference call transcript.

Is Microsoft doing a stock buyback?

Microsoft's Board of Directors initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th 2024, which authorizes the company to buy back $60,000,000,000 in outstanding shares, according to EventVestor. This means that the company could reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Does Microsoft have any subsidiaries?

The following companies are subsidiaries of Microsoft: Miburo, Minit, Activision Blizzard, Xandr, Two Hat Security, Clear Software, Ally.io, and others.

Who are Microsoft's major shareholders?

Top institutional investors of Microsoft include State Street Corp (3.89%), FMR LLC (2.85%), Geode Capital Management LLC (2.22%) and UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC (0.73%). Insiders that own company stock include Corp Microsoft, Satya Nadella, Bradford L Smith, Amy Hood, Kathleen T Hogan, Judson Althoff, Christopher David Young, Christopher C Capossela, Christopher C Capossela, Takeshi Numoto, Teri List and Emma N Walmsley.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Microsoft?

Shares of MSFT stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

What other stocks do shareholders of Microsoft own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Microsoft investors own include Meta Platforms (META), Chevron (CVX), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Comcast (CMCSA), Charles Schwab (SCHW), McKesson (MCK) and Edwards Lifesciences (EW).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 10/30/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 12/12 Dividend: 11/21/2024
• Dividend Payable: 12/12/2024
• Today: 12/18/2024
• Fiscal Year End: 6/30/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Computer and Technology
• Industry: Prepackaged software
• Sub-Industry: Systems Software
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:MSFT
• CUSIP: 59491810
• CIK: 789019
• Web: www.microsoft.com
• Phone: (425) 882-8080
• Fax: 425-706-7329
• Employees: 228,000
• Year Founded: 1975

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $505.43
• High Stock Price Target: $600.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $455.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +12.6%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.93
• Research Coverage: 28 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $12.12
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 37.02
• Forward P/E Ratio: 34.70
• P/E Growth: 2.38
• Net Income: $88.14 billion
• Net Margins: 35.61%
• Pretax Margin: 43.58%
• Return on Equity: 34.56%
• Return on Assets: 18.19%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.15
• Current Ratio: 1.30
• Quick Ratio: 1.29

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $254.19 billion
• Price / Sales: 13.12
• Cash Flow: $14.85 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 30.22
• Book Value: $36.12 per share
• Price / Book: 12.42

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 7,434,881,000
• Free Float: 7,432,651,000
• Market Cap: $3.34 trillion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.90