Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) PT Lowered to $500.00 at Sanford C. Bernstein

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had its target price decreased by Sanford C. Bernstein from $501.00 to $500.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the software giant’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. DA Davidson downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $502.97.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $426.59 on Friday. Microsoft has a 1-year low of $331.83 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $420.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total transaction of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,349,953.73. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,843,807.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 513,187 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $220,824,000 after acquiring an additional 12,422 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Atlas Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,740 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Partners Ltd. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Financial Partners Ltd. now owns 3,713 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,598,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,314,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 108,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,624,000 after buying an additional 6,633 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.