Microsoft’s (MSFT) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Wedbush in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $550.00 price objective on the software giant’s stock. Wedbush’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 40.57% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $391.26 on Thursday. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $376.91 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $408.82 and its 200-day moving average is $419.65.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.