Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 0.9%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price shot up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $452.31 and last traded at $451.16. 4,846,987 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 20,810,082 shares. The stock had previously closed at $446.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Price Performance

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 has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.76, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $425.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $410.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,727,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is 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.