Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Raised to $613.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Citigroup from $605.00 to $613.00 in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the software giant's stock. Citigroup's target price points to a potential upside of 19.94% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 price target (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $550.14.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $5.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $511.09. 10,721,238 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,236,213. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $514.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $481.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $430.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.