Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 2.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 2.1% during trading on Monday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $434.32 and last traded at $432.04. 6,553,551 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 13,081,814 shares. The stock had previously closed at $423.35.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $511.62.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $428.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $427.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.