Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 0.6%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $432.41 and last traded at $431.45. Approximately 4,092,540 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 21,234,879 shares. The stock had previously closed at $429.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Macquarie upped their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $454.70.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business's 50-day moving average is $415.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $397.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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.