Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $503.03.

Several analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $417.00 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $421.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $426.30. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $362.90 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 7.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 183,431 shares of company stock worth $74,956,968 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.