Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $550.00 Price Target at Barclays

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at Barclays from $494.00 to $550.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the software giant's stock. Barclays's price target suggests a potential upside of 7.83% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 target price (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $543.79.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $510.05 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $477.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $514.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value 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 approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 147.9% during 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. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.