Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by Morgan Stanley from $540.00 to $530.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the software giant's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target suggests a potential upside of 28.98% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $4.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $410.92. The stock had a trading volume of 25,548,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,227,316. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $432.53 and a 200 day moving average of $424.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft will post 13.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,309,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.