Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) PT Raised to $485.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $475.00 to $485.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the software giant’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 21.54% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $441.80.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $399.04 on Friday. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $292.73 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $414.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $387.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.