Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0.2% Higher

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $452.24 and last traded at $451.96. 2,930,249 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 20,816,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $450.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $422.18 and a 200-day moving average of $408.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue 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 year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, 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 transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.