Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Given New $520.00 Price Target at Piper Sandler

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its price objective boosted by Piper Sandler from $470.00 to $520.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the software giant’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $427.85 on Monday. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $369.01 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $428.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $427.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.