Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 0.1%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) traded up 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $418.88 and last traded at $414.92. 3,884,831 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 21,707,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $414.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $431.03.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $415.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $383.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 25.8% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 62,041 shares of the software giant's stock worth $26,102,000 after purchasing an additional 12,742 shares during the period. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 11,538 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,854,000 after buying an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.1% during the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 15,687 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,503,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 12.7% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 435,947 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $183,412,000 after acquiring an additional 49,100 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.