Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Price Up 0.8%

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $467.07 and last traded at $464.31. 4,912,009 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 20,643,225 shares. The stock had previously closed at $460.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $428.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $412.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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 company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter worth $5,587,119,000. Finally, TCI Fund Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $4,000,376,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.