Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price shot up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $439.60 and last traded at $439.33. 7,164,542 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 20,709,721 shares. The stock had previously closed at $435.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.90.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $427.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $428.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.6% in the third quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,819 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,225,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.5% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 44,895 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,933 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $6,153,000. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.5% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 23,905 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,286,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the period. Finally, Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,488 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,809,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. 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.