Mizuho Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Mizuho from $510.00 to $500.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the software giant’s stock. Mizuho’s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.04% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.97.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $442.33 on Thursday. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $432.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 16,009 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,748,000 after purchasing an additional 3,420 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,233 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,627,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Values Added Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Values Added Financial LLC now owns 6,908 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,386,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 65,538 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.