Microsoft said it expects to acquire 155 million shares at 24.75 dollars per share for a total 3.8 billion dollars following a tender which expired late Thursday as part of its ramped-up buyback program. The Washington-state based software-maker said it was now seeking to repurchase additional shares totalling 36.2 billion dollars in a program stretching forward to June 30, 2011.

The company had initially said in July that the program was targetting about 20 billion dollars, prior to announcing Friday that it was increasing that target by 16.2 billion. "You can see Microsoft buying back anywhere from 500 million shares to 800 million shares over next few months," Peter Misek, an analyst at Canaccord Adams Capital told the CNBC business news television channel.

Microsoft stock was trading up 38 cents, or 1.54 percent, at 25.08 dollars in late morning trading. News by AFP.