Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 0.3%

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) were up 0.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $428.48 and last traded at $428.47. Approximately 3,760,320 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 21,166,918 shares. The stock had previously closed at $427.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Macquarie upped their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $454.70.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $416.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $398.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 252.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,935,518 shares of the software giant's stock worth $814,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386,088 shares during the last quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 28.2% in the first quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 32.4% in the first quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 470,679 shares of the software giant's stock worth $198,024,000 after purchasing an additional 115,179 shares during the last quarter. FSA Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% in the first quarter. FSA Advisors Inc. now owns 8,321 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,501,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 6.1% during the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,914 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,909,000 after acquiring an additional 396 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.