Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 2.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) were up 2.1% on Monday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $470.00 to $520.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $434.32 and last traded at $432.04. Approximately 6,553,551 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 13,081,814 shares. The stock had previously closed at $423.35.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $511.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 161,421 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $72,147,000 after purchasing an additional 2,564 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,555 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,058,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 54,683 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $24,441,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, FLC Capital Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the second quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 20,305 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,075,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $428.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $428.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.