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

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $493.94.

Several research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $5,587,119,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 47,196.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,160,850,000 after buying an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth about $989,814,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $416.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $314.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $418.32 and its 200-day moving average is $425.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 28.74%.

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.