Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Trading 0.1% Higher

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s share price rose 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $416.50 and last traded at $414.27. Approximately 2,789,656 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 20,906,064 shares. The stock had previously closed at $414.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Macquarie increased their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $437.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $422.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Interval Partners LP raised its position in Microsoft by 14,401.7% in the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 8,701 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,889,000 after purchasing an additional 8,641 shares during the period. American Investment Services Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 43.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Investment Services Inc. now owns 1,057 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Tairen Capital Ltd lifted its position in Microsoft by 557.8% in the second quarter. Tairen Capital Ltd now owns 1,079,109 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $482,308,000 after buying an additional 915,058 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.0% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 245,370 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $109,668,000 after buying an additional 9,345 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.