Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $500.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 20.64% from the company’s previous close.

MSFT has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.24.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded down $27.89 during trading on Thursday, reaching $414.44. The stock had a trading volume of 28,232,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,093,051. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $432.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,605 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,578,000 after buying an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. Trademark Financial Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 25.8% in the 4th quarter. Trademark Financial Management LLC now owns 3,259 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Sage Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Sage Advisors LLC now owns 4,252 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 153,678 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $64,775,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd now owns 10,218 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,288,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.