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

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $499.31 and last traded at $498.58, with a volume of 8135163 shares. The stock had previously closed at $495.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. DA Davidson lifted 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $521.14.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $452.23 and a 200 day moving average of $422.09. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AdviceOne Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. AdviceOne Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,669 shares of the software giant's stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $103,760,000. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.4% during the 1st quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 19,369 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,271,000 after purchasing an additional 6,575 shares during the period. Real Talk Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 83,478 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,337,000 after purchasing an additional 3,836 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is 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.