Company Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft and NCAA® team up for NCAA® March Madness®

[PR Newswire] – REDMOND, Wash., March 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. and the NCAA announced a comprehensive partnership to provide college basketball fans with the ultimate March Madness bracket experience along with a new Windows 10 NCAA app. In partnership with the NCAA, Bing, which returns as an Official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will be the Official Bracketologist of the NCAA for the 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship and will leverage over a decade of extensive NCAA statistical data to help inform an immersive bracket experience complete with Bing Predicts data and matchup analysis. Read more on this. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) , currently valued at $416.03B, started the session at $52.97. A quick look at the market, the company’s stock traded between $52.54 and $52.97 with a one year range of $39.72 to $56.85. MSFT shares are currently priced at 19.05x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 4.10x earnings multiple for the same period. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.44 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.81%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 28 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.64 per share, which would be $0.03 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.05 sequential decrease. What we find to be interesting is that the full-year EPS estimate of $2.76 is a $0.30 improvement when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $22.08 Billion. If reported, that would be a 1.61% increase over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Morgan Stanley upgraded MSFT from Equal-Weight to Overweight (Jan 13, 2016). Previously, BMO Capital Markets Initiated MSFT at to Outperform. Investors should keep in mind is that the average price target is $58.56, which is 10.55% 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 Company Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Up on New Financial Reporting Structure Market Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – One Reason Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Closed Up