Microsoft Co. (MSFT) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.83 on June 12th

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 11th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.83 per share by the software giant on Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th.

Microsoft has raised its dividend by an average of 10.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 23 consecutive years. Microsoft has a dividend payout ratio of 22.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Microsoft to earn $14.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.6%.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $383.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $413.92 and a 200-day moving average of $421.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $376.91 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.54.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,374,000. Wick Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Wick Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,071 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. McMill Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,078,000. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,162,000. Finally, Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $13,765,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.