Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0.3% Higher

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded up 0.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $455.38 and last traded at $454.32. 3,211,616 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 20,735,990 shares. The stock had previously closed at $452.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.70, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $424.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $409.90.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,255,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,238,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after buying an additional 6,484 shares during the period. 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.