Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target Raised to $548.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $506.00 to $548.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the software giant’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $410.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $420.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $424.71. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.77 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 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.