Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) PT Lowered to $500.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price reduced by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $515.00 to $500.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the software giant’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 20.10% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MSFT. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.47.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $416.32 on Thursday. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $324.39 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $417.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GenWealth Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.2% during the third quarter. GenWealth Group Inc. now owns 1,348 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 26,138 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,247,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. Iams Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,399 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,559,944 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,095,588,000 after acquiring an additional 67,035 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 295,274 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $127,056,000 after purchasing an additional 10,611 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.