Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 2.2%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price traded up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $416.33 and last traded at $414.51. 4,727,854 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 20,563,529 shares. The stock had previously closed at $405.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.1 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $424.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $423.06. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total transaction of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently 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.