Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Raised to $500.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) had its price target raised by Mizuho from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the software giant's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $9.88 on Thursday, reaching $435.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,732,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,356,359. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $384.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $411.12. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th 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 bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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.