Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Bank of America has increased its price target for Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00, indicating a potential upside of 24.70% from the current stock price.
• Microsoft's stock has received multiple "buy" ratings from various analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $569.00.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings, surpassing analysts' expectations with $76.44 billion in revenue and an EPS of $3.65.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Bank of America from $585.00 to $640.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the software giant's stock. Bank of America's price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.11% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $581.00 price target (up previously from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded down $9.39 on Thursday, reaching $524.11. The stock had a trading volume of 28,948,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,780,832. The business's 50-day moving average price is $489.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $435.01. The company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 5.9% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Seek First Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the second quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant's stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the second quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.