Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $494.72.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $416.79 on Friday. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $435.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $422.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rebalance LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Innova Wealth Partners raised its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.