Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0.4% Higher

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded up 0.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $450.12 and last traded at $449.68. 3,045,564 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 20,851,537 shares. The stock had previously closed at $447.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $421.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $408.52. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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 net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.