Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 0.2%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $428.76 and last traded at $427.88. 2,179,197 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 20,518,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $427.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $424.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $423.09. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Summit Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 14.7% in the second quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,454 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,885,000 after buying an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 24,328 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 41,022 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $955,000. Finally, Brightwater Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $14,238,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.