Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0.3% Higher

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price rose 0.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $455.38 and last traded at $454.32. Approximately 3,211,616 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 20,735,990 shares. The stock had previously closed at $452.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $422.18 and its 200-day moving average is $408.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.