Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $467.12.

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sensible Money LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.8% during the first quarter. Sensible Money LLC now owns 2,554 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $1,115,000. SRN Advisors LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Breakwater Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $11,484,000. Finally, NBW Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the first quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 48,373 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,351,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $452.85 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $422.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $408.83. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $456.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s 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.