Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 1.5% Higher – Here’s Why

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price traded up 1.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $380.25 and last traded at $381.05. 5,930,312 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 20,525,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $375.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.86.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.70, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $404.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $418.77.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Milestone Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,031,000. Avant Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $1,629,000. Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $5,270,000. Fulcrum Equity Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 1,942 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,548,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.