JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $465.00 to $475.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the software giant's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.13% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $9.88 on Thursday, hitting $435.28. The stock had a trading volume of 30,732,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,356,359. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company's 50 day moving average price is $384.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $411.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.