Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading Up 0.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares rose 0.3% on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $495.00 to $520.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $450.39 and last traded at $447.08. Approximately 11,447,336 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 20,846,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $445.70.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 target price (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,115,000. SRN Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the first quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,554,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Breakwater Investment Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $11,484,000. NBW Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 48,373 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,351,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth $4,415,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9 %

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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $419.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $407.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.