William Blair Has Strong Estimate for Microsoft Q3 Earnings

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Stock analysts at William Blair increased their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Microsoft in a report issued on Thursday, January 30th. William Blair analyst J. Ader now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings per share of $3.21 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $3.09. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $12.89 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q4 2025 earnings at $3.29 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $13.03 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $15.02 EPS.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.38% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 EPS.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MSFT. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0 %

Microsoft stock opened at $415.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $432.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.61. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.