Market Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft Puts Name on Line With Iowa Caucuses Tabulation

[Bloomberg] – Iowa and Microsoft will have a lot at stake Monday evening as Republican and Democratic volunteers in roughly 1,700 precincts start plugging vote totals into their smartphones to deliver the first verdict … Read more on this. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) , valued at $409.14B, opened at $52.01. During today’s session, MSFT traded between $51.02 to $52.20 with a trailing 52-week range being $39.72 to $56.85. Priced at 18.90x this year’s forecasted earnings, MSFT shares are relatively expensive compared to the industry ’s 12.49x forward p/e ratio. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.44 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.75%. According to a consensus of 27 analysts, the earnings estimate of $0.71 per share would be $0.00 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.00 sequential decrease. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $2.76, which would be a $0.30 improvement when compared to the last year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $25.26 Billion. If realized, that would be a 4.57% decrease over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Morgan Stanley upgraded MSFT from Equal-Weight to Overweight (Jan 13, 2016). Previously, BMO Capital Markets Initiated MSFT at to Outperform. With the above information in mind, readers should note that the average price target is $58.00, which is 11.52% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:MSFT) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – MICROSOFT IS UP 10%: Here’s what a one-point move in MSFT does to the Dow Market Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – At Microsoft, the Clouds Are Lifting Market Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – One Reason Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Closed Up