Company Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft Files Patent For What Could Be Next Generation Surface Desktop Devices

[at Forbes] – It’s official, Microsoft has finally begun building strong brand equity and recognition with their Surface line of products. What years ago, back in the days of Steve Ballmer, was a boat anchor revenue drain for Redmond, has now become a crown jewel of the company. The latest iteration of the Read more on this. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) , with a current value of $414.61B, started trading this morning at $51.45. Looking at today’s trading action, the company’s one day range from $51.45 to $52.77 with a one year range of $39.72 to $56.85. MSFT shares are currently priced at 18.51x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry ’s 6.67x earnings multiple. And for dividend hunters, the company pays shareholders $1.44 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.85%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 28 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.64 per share, which would be $0.03 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.05 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $2.76 which would be a $0.30 improvement than last year’s full-year earnings. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $22.08 Billion. If realized, that would be a 1.61% increase over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, Morgan Stanley upgraded MSFT from Equal-Weight to Overweight (Jan 13, 2016). Previously, BMO Capital Markets Initiated MSFT at to Outperform. The average price target for MSFT shares by the analysts covering the stock is $58.63, which is 13.96% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:MSFT) Similar Articles: Company Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft Slams Apple And Believes The Surface Pro Beats iPad Pro Company Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft Windows 10 Reaches 200 Million Devices After 6 Months Company Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Why the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Could Be a Huge Leap Forward