Microsoft Co. (MSFT) Plans $0.46 Quarterly Dividend


Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 28th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 21st will be given a dividend of 0.46 per share by the software giant on Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 20th.

Microsoft has raised its dividend by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Microsoft has a dividend payout ratio of 43.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Microsoft to earn $4.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.3%.


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Microsoft stock opened at $108.22 on Tuesday. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $87.08 and a 1 year high of $116.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $833.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 3.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.01. Microsoft had a net margin of 28.31% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The firm had revenue of $32.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.


In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 267,466 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.01, for a total value of $28,354,070.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,746,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $185,183,992.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher C. Capossela sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.50, for a total value of $422,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 169,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,927,720.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 285,466 shares of company stock valued at $30,325,771. Corporate insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.


A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pearl River Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Sycomore Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Financial Advantage Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $81,000. Finally, Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $83,000. 73.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.


A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 31st. Credit Suisse Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $114.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 31st. Macquarie set a $125.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $124.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $122.11.


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About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. Its company's Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office 365 commercial products and services for businesses, such as Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, and related Client Access Licenses (CALs); Office 365 consumer services, including Skype, Outlook.com, and OneDrive; LinkedIn online professional network; and Dynamics business solutions comprising financial management, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, supply chain management, and analytics applications for small and medium businesses, large organizations, and divisions of enterprises.

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