Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) PT Raised to $510.00 at Bank of America

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective upped by Bank of America from $480.00 to $510.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the software giant’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a buy rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $484.94.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $437.11 on Wednesday. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $439.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $418.52.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 291,447 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $92,024,000 after acquiring an additional 13,085 shares during the period. WealthPLAN Partners LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 21,366 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,035,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. now owns 4,297 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,302,234 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $489,692,000 after buying an additional 3,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $385,000. 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.