Brokerages Set Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target at $430.52

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $432.13.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 82,267 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,976,000 after acquiring an additional 3,209 shares in the last quarter. HS Management Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. HS Management Partners LLC now owns 298,208 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $94,159,000 after acquiring an additional 45,560 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,497,000 after acquiring an additional 5,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $404.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $415.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $384.29. Microsoft has a one year low of $275.37 and a one year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

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.