Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) traded up 0.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $415.56 and last traded at $414.40. 4,031,437 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 21,447,018 shares. The stock had previously closed at $413.72.
Analyst Ratings Changes
MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $480.00 price target (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $452.61.
Read Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
Microsoft Trading Up 0.7 %
The business has a 50-day moving average of $413.83 and a 200-day moving average of $394.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.89.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.
Insider Activity
In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 11,677,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft
A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cadence Bank grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 128,393 shares of the software giant's stock worth $54,018,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the first quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 44,495 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $18,720,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 26.4% during the first quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 22,386 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,418,000 after buying an additional 4,671 shares during the last quarter. Heron Bay Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Heron Bay Capital Management now owns 45,811 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $19,274,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 194,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $81,781,000 after acquiring an additional 8,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
About Microsoft
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Microsoft wasn't on the list.
While Microsoft currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Wondering where to start (or end) with AI stocks? These 10 simple stocks can help investors build long-term wealth as artificial intelligence continues to grow into the future.
Get This Free Report
