Company Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Microsoft says UK staying in EU important for investment

[Reuters] – Microsoft said on Tuesday that Britain should stay in the European Union if it wanted to receive more investment, the same day the Confederation of British Industry urged firms to discuss the vote with staff. The U.S. software giant employs 5,000 staff in Britain and plans to offer Europeans remote access to data from centres based in Britain, but said further investment could be at risk if Britain votes to leave the EU in next month’s referendum. “Our view is that the UK should remain in the EU,” Microsoft’s UK chief executive Michel Van der Bel said on the firm’s website. Read more on this. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) , with a current value of $400.27B, started the session at $51.72. Today’s price range has been between $50.75 and $51.72 per share with a trailing 52-week range being $39.72 to $56.85. MSFT shares are currently priced at 19.48x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 6.98x forward p/e ratio. The company pays shareholders $1.44 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.82%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 29 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.58 per share, which would be $0.02 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.09 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $2.66, which would be a $0.20 better than last year. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $22.16 Billion. If realized, that would be a 0.09% decrease over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Macquarie Initiated MSFT at Neutral (Mar 4, 2016). Previously, Morgan Stanley upgraded MSFT from Equal-Weight to Overweight. The average price target for MSFT shares by the analysts covering the stock is $57.65, which is 11.47% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:MSFT) Similar Articles: Market Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Microsoft’s Azure: The Engine in BMW’s Mobile App (MSFT, AMZN) Company Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Microsoft Confirms Windows 10 Important Mobile Fix Company Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft: An Activist Investment Analysis (MSFT)