Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Microsoft Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 32 brokerages, with 30 analysts recommending a buy and only 2 suggesting a hold.
• The average 12-month price target for Microsoft shares is $609.86, with several analysts increasing their price objectives significantly in recent reports.
• Microsoft reported earnings of $3.65 per share for the latest quarter, beating estimates and showing an 18.1% increase in year-over-year revenue.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-two brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirty have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $609.86.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%

MSFT opened at $524.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $489.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $434.88. The company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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