Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Sets New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $506.78 and last traded at $502.29, with a volume of 6496832 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $496.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.14.

Microsoft Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.75, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock's fifty day moving average is $467.76 and its 200-day moving average is $424.96.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $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.