Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 2.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The company traded as high as $439.44 and last traded at $435.80. Approximately 12,269,355 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 24,335,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at $425.40.

MSFT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company's fifty day moving average price is $385.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $411.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

About Microsoft

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.