Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 0%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares shot up 0% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $444.28 and last traded at $442.77. 3,728,704 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 20,823,617 shares. The stock had previously closed at $442.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.83.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.89. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $418.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $405.81.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after buying an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $5,587,119,000. Finally, TCI Fund Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $4,000,376,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.