Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) had its target price raised by Moffett Nathanson from $263.00 to $306.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the software giant’s stock.
A number of other analysts have also issued reports on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Microsoft from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the stock from $310.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $322.88.
Microsoft Stock Up 7.2 %
Shares of MSFT opened at $295.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.93. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $213.43 and a 12-month high of $299.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $271.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $252.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $52.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.01 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.05% and a return on equity of 39.87%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 9.3 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 18th will be given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.22%.
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In related news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.32, for a total value of $272,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 116,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,687,699.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total value of $1,186,410.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 788,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,272,990. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.32, for a total value of $272,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 116,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,687,699.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,767 shares of company stock worth $1,728,111 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 132 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Gleason Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 111.7% during the 1st quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.15% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Company Profile
Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of Office Commercial (Office 365 subscriptions, the Office 365 portion of Microsoft 365 Commercial subscriptions, and Office licensed on-premises), Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, Office Consumer, including Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other Office services, LinkedIn, including Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Premium Subscriptions, Sales Solutions, and Learning Solutions, Dynamics business solutions, including Dynamics 365, comprising a set of intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, Customer Insights, Power Apps, and Power Automate, and on-premises ERP and CRM applications.
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