Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Rating Upgraded by DA Davidson

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was upgraded by equities researchers at DA Davidson from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $450.00 price target on the software giant’s stock, up from their previous price target of $425.00. DA Davidson’s target price suggests a potential upside of 15.81% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.43.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.6 %

MSFT stock opened at $388.56 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $376.91 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $412.43 and its 200 day moving average is $420.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,314,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.