Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 0.9% on Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shot up 0.9% during trading on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $475.00 to $515.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $442.97 and last traded at $441.34. 4,458,568 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 20,514,602 shares. The stock had previously closed at $437.39.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MSFT. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.46.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rebalance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,309,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $426.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $428.26. The company has a market cap of $3.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

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

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.