Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 1.4% on Strong Earnings

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares rose 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $438.50 and last traded at $437.93. Approximately 6,166,840 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 20,137,863 shares. The stock had previously closed at $431.95.

The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 35.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.99 earnings per share.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 24.75%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.59, for a total value of $16,103,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $219,349,953.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $420.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.90.

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.