Market Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft is cozying up to its enemies in the gaming market

[Business Insider] – Today, Microsoft announced that it’s opening up its Xbox Live gaming service to support… Read more on this. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) , currently valued at $420.90B, started trading this morning at $52.84. During today’s session, MSFT traded between $52.63 to $53.59 with a trailing 52-week range being $39.72 to $56.85. MSFT shares are currently priced at 19.23x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 13.96x forward p/e ratio. The company pays shareholders $1.44 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.71%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 29 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.64 per share, which would be $0.03 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.05 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $2.76, which would be a $0.30 better than last year. 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. Recently, Macquarie Initiated MSFT at Neutral (Mar 4, 2016). Previously, Morgan Stanley upgraded MSFT from Equal-Weight to Overweight. With the above information in mind, readers should note that the average price target is $58.55, which is 10.81% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:MSFT) Similar Articles: Market Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Microsoft’s gaming boss explains its radical reinvention of the Xbox Stock Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – MICROSOFT IS UP 10%: Here’s what a one-point move in MSFT does to the Dow Stock Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft acquires 3D gaming physics company Havok from Intel