Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) PT Raised to $500.00

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $480.00 to $500.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the software giant’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 22.46% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $443.08.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $9.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $408.31. The stock had a trading volume of 20,987,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,009,514. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $387.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $295.25 and a twelve month high of $430.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,727,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.