Mizuho Boosts Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Price Target to $510.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective increased by Mizuho from $480.00 to $510.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the software giant’s stock. Mizuho’s price target suggests a potential upside of 13.44% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.43.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $449.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $423.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $427.51. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $364.13 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Microsoft by 169.2% in 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 stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.