Market Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft scores its first-ever pot partnership

[at CNBC] – Microsoft on Thursday will announce its first-ever partnership with a software firm that supports the burgeoning cannabis industry. Read more on this. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) , with a current market cap of $394.60B, opened at $49.52. During today’s session, MSFT traded between $49.51 to $50.32 with the price of the stock fluctuating between $39.72 to $56.85 over the last 52 weeks. MSFT shares are currently priced at 18.61x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 0.54x earnings multiple. The company pays shareholders $1.44 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.80%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 29 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.58 per share, which would be $0.02 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.09 sequential decrease. Investors should also note that the full-year EPS estimate of $2.67 is a $0.21 improvement when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $22.17 Billion. If reported, that would be a 0.05% decrease over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Macquarie Initiated MSFT at Neutral (Mar 4, 2016). Previously, Morgan Stanley upgraded MSFT from Equal-Weight to Overweight. When considering if the stock is under or overvalued, the average price target is $57.76, which is 16.64% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:MSFT) Similar Articles: Market Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft-Xiaomi Partnership is a Win-win (MSFT) Market Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Microsoft and Acer expand partnership to bring Microsoft services to more customers on more devices Market Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Li Tong Group’s Consumer Trade-in Program Scores Strong Sustainability, Economic Gains for Microsoft in Hong Kong