Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.6% on Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 1.6% on Thursday after DA Davidson raised their price target on the stock from $500.00 to $600.00. DA Davidson currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $499.20 and last traded at $498.99. 5,425,428 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 22,954,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $491.09.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $524.71.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents 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 have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,314,509 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,374,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306,485 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $457.07 and a 200-day moving average of $423.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.