Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0.3% Higher

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $455.38 and last traded at $454.32. 3,211,616 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 20,735,990 shares. The stock had previously closed at $452.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 target price (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.70, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $424.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $409.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $2,818,000. Sensible Money LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.8% during the first quarter. Sensible Money LLC now owns 2,554 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $1,115,000. SRN Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.5% during the first quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,554,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Breakwater Investment Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $11,484,000. 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.