William Blair Research Analysts Reduce Earnings Estimates for Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Analysts at William Blair dropped their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Microsoft in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, July 31st. William Blair analyst J. Ader now expects that the software giant will post earnings of $3.11 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $3.14. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $13.07 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q2 2025 earnings at $3.23 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.29 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.36 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $12.99 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $15.07 EPS.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business 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%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MSFT. Macquarie upped their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $487.33.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $408.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $439.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $421.54. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.