Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 4.7% Following Strong Earnings

Key Points

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Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 4.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $555.45 and last traded at $537.25. 23,635,806 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 22,175,734 shares. The stock had previously closed at $513.24.

The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.49% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $1,375,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The business's fifty day moving average is $488.46 and its 200 day moving average is $434.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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.