Wells Fargo & Company Increases Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $565.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $515.00 to $565.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the software giant's stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded down $3.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $474.96. 16,804,288 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,507,303. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $425.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $418.26. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $480.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. 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.