Microsoft is a COVID-19 star

Article Excerpt

MICROSOFT CORP. $204 is a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol MSFT; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 7.6 billion; Market cap: $1.55 trillion; Dividend yield: 1.0%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.microsoft.com) last increased your quarterly dividend by 10.9% in December 2019. The new annual rate or $2.04 a share yields 1.0%. Microsoft continues to benefit as COVID-19 spurs strong growth for its Azure cloud services. In its fiscal 2020 fourth quarter, ended June 30, 2020, the company’s revenue rose 12.8%, to $38.03 billion from $33.72 billion a year earlier. Earnings improved 5.5%, to $11.20 billion from $10.62 billion. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share gained 6.6%, to $1.46 from $1.37. Microsoft is a buy. buy…