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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 2.3% - Time to Buy?

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Key Points

  • Microsoft shares rose 2.3% in midday trading, reaching as high as $401.75 after closing at $390.74 the prior session, though volume came in below average.
  • The company’s latest news flow is centered on AI expansion, including Satya Nadella’s comments about AI reshaping industries, a new coding model unveiled at Build, and Microsoft Marketplace growth through NuPlay.
  • Despite the positive AI narrative, Microsoft faces headline risk from a shareholder lawsuit over cloud and AI spending disclosures, while recent insider sales and weaker share momentum have added to investor caution.
  • Five stocks to consider instead of Microsoft.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) rose 2.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $401.75 and last traded at $399.76. Approximately 31,989,742 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 35,844,875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $390.74.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Evercore dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. HSBC dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $550.00 price target on the stock. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $561.20.

Check Out Our Latest Report on MSFT

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11. The business's fifty day moving average is $411.08 and its 200-day moving average is $428.64.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARK & TLK Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the third quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% during the third quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

See Also

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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