Griffin Securities Weighs in on Microsoft Q3 Earnings

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Griffin Securities raised their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Microsoft in a note issued to investors on Thursday, January 30th. Griffin Securities analyst J. Vleeschhouwer now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings per share of $3.20 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $3.18. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $13.03 per share. Griffin Securities also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q4 2025 earnings at $3.39 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $13.12 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $3.44 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.63 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.78 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.75 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $14.61 EPS.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on MSFT. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $412.37 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $432.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.21. Microsoft has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 84,346 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $37,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 968,000 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $421,899,000 after acquiring an additional 26,024 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.