Stock Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Microsoft, Windows 10 And The Curious Case Of A Missing Surface Phone

[at Forbes] – Sometimes it’s what you don’t see that’s important. Mobile World Congress is still under way in Barcelona, and most of the major players in the mobile world are looking to stand out in a sea of smartphones. I’ll be honest, reading the reports it looks more like Android World Congress with the focus on Google’s vision of a mobile platform. As always, Apple is nowhere to be seen, but what about Microsoft’s token presence? Why did it show up? Read more on this. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) , with a current market cap of $401.63B, opened at $50.69. During the trading session, MSFT traded between $50.20 to $51.01 and has traded between $39.72 and $56.85 over the past year. MSFT shares are currently priced at 18.78x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry ’s 6.67x earnings multiple for the same period. And for dividend hunters, the company pays shareholders $1.44 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.78%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 28 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.64 per share, which would be $0.03 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.05 sequential decrease. Investors should also note that the full-year EPS estimate of $2.76 is a $0.30 better when compared to the previous 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. In terms of ratings, Morgan Stanley upgraded MSFT from Equal-Weight to Overweight (Jan 13, 2016). Previously, BMO Capital Markets Initiated MSFT at to Outperform. With the above information in mind, readers should note that the average price target is $58.56, which is 15.53% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:MSFT) Similar Articles: Market Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): A Microsoft Surface Phone Will Not Be Enough Company Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Here’s how Microsoft can make the next Windows Phone a hit and put Apple on notice Stock Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Windows 10 off to fast start; now on 5% of PCs in use