Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 0.7%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock price traded up 0.7% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $409.85 and last traded at $409.49. 4,865,949 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 21,877,523 shares. The stock had previously closed at $406.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Macquarie lifted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $413.68 and a 200 day moving average of $390.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were 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 approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction 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 approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 133.9% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 6,272 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,980,000 after buying an additional 3,591 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 22,620 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,142,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 38.6% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,013 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,740,000 after purchasing an additional 9,480 shares during the period. Finally, 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,047 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,435,000 after buying an additional 2,629 shares in the last quarter. 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.