Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 1.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 1.3% on Thursday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $500.00 to $540.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $511.48 and last traded at $511.96. Approximately 4,394,969 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 21,562,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $505.62.

MSFT has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wedbush increased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $538.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $474.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $427.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.

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