Company Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Microsoft’s stock drop is just short-term noise

[at MarketWatch] – Microsoft missed third-quarter earnings expectations, but many analysts say the miss and the resulting stock plunge was just a short-term blip in a bullish longer-term outlook. Read more on this. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) , with a current value of $409.54B, opened this morning at $52.04. During today’s session, MSFT traded between $50.77 to $52.43 and has traded between $39.72 and $56.85 over the past 12 months. MSFT shares are currently priced at 20.28x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 16.23x forward p/e ratio. And for income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.44 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.55%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 29 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.66 per share, which would be $0.06 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.04 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $2.75, which would be a $0.29 better than last year. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $23.04 Billion. If reported, that would be a 3.88% increase over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Macquarie Initiated MSFT at Neutral (Mar 4, 2016). Previously, Morgan Stanley upgraded MSFT from Equal-Weight to Overweight. The average price target for MSFT shares is $58.89, which is 13.16% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:MSFT) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Microsoft Sues DoJ Over Data Request Order (MSFT) Stock Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Rallies on Bullish Coverage, Making its Own SIM Card Stock Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – MICROSOFT IS UP 10%: Here’s what a one-point move in MSFT does to the Dow