Stock Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Analyst: 2016 will be a ‘206 area code street battle for the cloud’ and Microsoft could beat Amazon

[at American City Business Journals] – There are huge clouds forming in Seattle and they’re not just the kind the city’s residents are used to seeing overhead. Both Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) are dominating the cloud … Read more on this. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) , currently valued at $443.81B, opened at $56.08. Looking at today’s market, MSFT one day range is $55.42 to $56.16 with a trailing 52-week range being $39.72 to $56.85. MSFT shares are currently priced at 20.56x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 12.56x forward p/e ratio. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.44 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.57%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 27 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.71 per share, which would be $0.00 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.01 sequential decrease. In looking at the bigger picture, the full-year EPS estimate of $2.75 would be a $0.29 improvement when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $25.23 Billion. If realized, that would be a 4.68% decrease over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Goldman upgraded MSFT from Sell to Neutral (Dec 18, 2015). Previously, BofA/Merrill upgraded MSFT from Neutral to Buy. Investors should keep in mind is that the average price target is $57.00, which is 1.64% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:MSFT) Similar Articles: Company Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Cloud services bolster Microsoft results, shares soar Stock Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Disney teams up with Amazon and Microsoft Market Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – One Reason Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Closed Up