Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Hits New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $481.00 and last traded at $480.24, with a volume of 17453837 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $478.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $432.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $419.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Birchbrook Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 6,326 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Fosun International Ltd grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Gagnon Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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