Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Up 0.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shot up 0.5% on Wednesday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $475.00 to $526.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microsoft traded as high as $463.62 and last traded at $461.78. 3,718,688 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 20,518,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $459.54.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $469.86.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its position in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $432.43 and its 200-day moving average is $414.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.