Market Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Fight over San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone unites Microsoft and Apple

[at American City Business Journals] – A federal judge this week ordered Apple to help the FBI break into an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. Microsoft – and several other big tech companies – have now stepped in to offer general support of Apple’s refusal to comply with the judge’s order. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, shared a statement on behalf of Reform Government Surveillance, a group of technology industry giants that includes Apple, Facebook and Google. Read more on this. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) , valued at $412.79B, opened at $52.33. Shares have traded today between $52.10 and $52.95 per share with the price of the stock fluctuating between $39.72 to $56.85 over the last 52 weeks. MSFT shares are currently priced at 18.51x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 6.67x forward p/e ratio. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.44 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.85%. According to a consensus of 28 analysts, the earnings estimate of $0.64 per share would be $0.03 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.05 sequential decrease. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $2.76, which would be a $0.30 better when compared to the last 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. More recently, Morgan Stanley upgraded MSFT from Equal-Weight to Overweight (Jan 13, 2016). Previously, BMO Capital Markets Initiated MSFT at to Outperform. The average price target for MSFT shares by the analysts covering the stock is $58.63, which is 12.04% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:MSFT) Similar Articles: Company Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft’s latest iPhone app can identify your dog’s breed based on a photo Market Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Apple CEO: Microsoft’s first-ever laptop is ‘deluded’ Market Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – One Reason Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Closed Up