Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus has raised its target price for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) from $500.00 to $550.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.75% from the stock's previous close.
• Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts, with 29 giving buy ratings and a consensus target price of $555.86.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showed a profit of $3.46 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.22, alongside a revenue of $70.07 billion.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the software giant's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.75% from the stock's previous close.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $555.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $3.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $510.44. 7,918,698 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,153,820. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $518.29. The company's 50 day moving average price is $483.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $431.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.44, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. 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.

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